Rodrigo Bentancur has revealed just how many sessions he's put in to make his return for Tottenham and also what Ange Postecoglou told him during a chance encounter.

The Uruguayan midfielder damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a match at Leicester City in February and after plenty of determination and hard work, the 26-year-old returned eight months later to come off the bench late on in Tottenham's victory at Crystal Palace to a rapturous reception from the fans and his team-mates.

In a new interview on the club's SpursPlay channel, Bentancur has spoken about the moment he suffered the injury and the long road back to play for a new manager in Postecoglou.

"At the time I felt a 'crack'. I felt something really painful and for a few minutes I could barely walk. I remember after the game I spoke to the doctor, and I asked him to be honest with me and tell me what the injury looked like to him," he said.

"He said that I heard that noise then it's likely to be the ACL. So I then had it in my head that it was going to be a long recovery. So then I prepared mentally for seven to eight months of recuperation. I think on the second or third day it was when it dawned on me how long I'd be out for. I was with my girlfriend, and I think that was the only day where I had to leave the room to go and cry.

"My family were there from minute one, then all the rest of the family in Uruguay who supported me from the beginning as soon as they found out about my injury. I tried to make the most of the time I had with my family, and all the time that I spent with them I wouldn't change for anything. I think this also helped to get through the recovery a lot more quickly."

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Bentancur - known by his nickname Lolo around the club - delivered an insight into just how much work and how many recovery sessions have gone into his battle to get himself back into a condition to play again.

"Throughout the eight months, I didn't have serious problems or inflammations. My knee reacted well to all the work we did, every time we had to change direction or increase the weights," he explained.

"I've trained a lot. In the last three months I've trained from Monday to Saturday here with the club. Then separately I've trained with my uncle every day in extra shifts. We've trained a lot to be able to get back in the shape I was before.

"So, as a minimum, I'd train 10-11 times a week. So in the last three months, I've done about 120 sessions. It felt good, but obviously it's not the same as being able to train with your team-mates and play football."

When the Uruguayan was injured he was one of the star players under Antonio Conte and since then the club have had two interim head coaches in Cristian Stellini and then Ryan Mason before Postecoglou took the reins and has Spurs flying high at the top of the Premier League table.

Bentancur says the Australian, who calls him Roddy, soon had some words of advice for him and showed his belief in the midfielder not long after he arrived at the club.

"I remember I bumped into the manager by the stairs. He asked me how I was, how I was feeling, how the injury was," he said. "He gave me his trust from minute one, telling me to take it easy, to make sure that I came back fully fit and that there was no rush, and also to try to come back at the same level that I left because I was playing really well.

"Now it's just about getting back up to speed gradually, and to try and get back to the levels that I was before. That's the idea."

Ahead of his return at Selhurst Park, Bentancur had lost all thoughts of his knee from his mind and any concerns associated with the ACL.

"I felt like I was ready to come back. I started to train pretty much normally. Luckily the knee is ready. I don't think about the knee anymore. I don't have any fear, I feel fine," he said. "The only thing I need now, like all players after eight months without playing, is to play again and get some minutes. Then, to do my best when the manager needs me.

"I found out the day before the Crystal Palace game [that I would be playing]. That was when the squad list came out and I knew I was going to be part of the team that went to the game.

"It's just the feeling of feeling like a footballer again, to put on the shirt, to go to the stadium and be around my team-mates. From day one they've been there to help me. The truth is that we're not just friends, we're more like brothers. They've shown that right from the moment I got injured. They've always been with me."

He came off the bench to a large cheer from the travelling Spurs fans in the final minutes to replace his grinning former Juventus team-mate Dejan Kulusevski.

"It was a special moment. To have just touched the pitch, even for 10 seconds. It was like reliving the day I became a professional footballer," he admitted.

Then came a moment after the final whistle as Bentancur's team-mates pushed him forward in front of the celebrating Spurs supporters who chanted his name before the Tottenham players all came over to huddle around and hug him.

"It was an incredible moment. I wasn't expecting so much love and support from the fans and my team-mates. It was incredible. To be able to get up and move and be close to the fans, and hear the song again, it gave me goosebumps to be honest. I almost cried actually because it was such an emotional moment," he said.

"The truth is that sometimes you don't realise where you are or the magnitude of what you've achieved. These eight months also helped me to put the brakes on, so to speak, to enjoy family time, to enjoy the things that I was missing and I didn't even realise.

"The truth is that the injury came at a point where I was doing really well, but it gave me a lot of other things - it helped me to mature a lot, both personally and as a player.

"I'd like to thank the fans for their support throughout these long months. I've always felt their affection and now thankfully, we can be around each other again."