In November 2009, Tom won his first senior England cap when he represented the Three Lions in a friendly with Brazil held in Doha, Qatar.
The call-up came on the back of an impressive start to the 2009-10 campaign, in which Tom started every single Premier League game, mainly in the heart of midfield but also at centre-half when needed, right up until Boxing Day!
In the end, he started more Premier League games than anyone else (33/38) and made more starts (41/50) in all competitions than anyone apart from goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who made 42.
Tom also played a key role as we finished fourth in the Premier League, partnering Luka Modric in central midfield in those huge wins against Arsenal, Chelsea, Bolton and Manchester City - not forgetting his wonderful strike to beat Bolton 1-0 at the Lane on May 1.
His form earned a call into Fabio Capello's provisional 30-man World Cup squad, but he was unfortunately cut from the final 23.Having played only 31 games in all competitions during the previous season, the statistics go to show the effort the big man has made to become one of Harry Redknapp's most important players.
During the 2010-11 campaign, Tom was given the captain's armband on a number of occasions, most notably in both games against Inter Milan in the group stages of the Champions League.
He played a key role in our fine start to the season but an ankle injury eventually got the better of him and he was ruled out between November-April.
On his return, he scored one of the goals of the season in the 3-3 draw against Arsenal before being ruled out for another month, returning for the season's finale against Birmingham City. He made 20 appearance in total in 2010-11, scoring three goals.
A product of Derby County's youth academy, Tom made his senior debut aged just 16 in August 2003, and went on to make 95 appearances for the Rams before arriving in N17.
During the early part of his Spurs career, Tom was loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers for further Championship experience, where he made 13 appearances and scored one goal - ironically against Derby at Pride Park, for whom he never found the net in two seasons!
Tom returned from Molineux to make his Spurs first team debut in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Fulham in January 2006.
During the following campaign, the England Under-21 international established himself in the first team at The Lane, scoring three goals in 35 games.
Still only 20 years of age at the beginning of the 2007-08 campaign, Tom still had to work hard to prove himself as a first-choice central midfielder at the highest level.
But as the season progressed, Tom made the most of every opportunity given to him, and ended the campaign with his best return of both goals and games for the Club to date - four in 43.
He was a member of the side that won the Carling Cup at Wembley in February 2008, and it soon led to England Head Coach Fabio Capello first showing an interest in Tom.
In May 2008, he was called up to the senior England squad for the first time for end-of-season friendlies with USA and Trinidad & Tobago.
Although Tom did not get on the pitch over the two games, he would eventually get his chance to perform on the biggest stage.
The arrival of Redknapp as Spurs manager in October 2008 saw Tom's career kick on another level, and he was even given the captain's armband for the first time in a UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie with Shakhtar Donetsk in February 2009.
Before gaining his first senior honours, Tom had been a regular England youth international, representing his country at Under-15 level through to Under-21s, where he won over 30 caps.
