Érik Lamela has described the 13 months he spent on the sidelines through injury as “probably the worst time of my life”. The Argentinian, who marked his return to first-team action with an assist for Harry Kane in Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat against Leicester City on Tuesday, required two operations to solve hip problems and admitted there were moments when he feared that he would never play again.

Lamela, whose substitute appearance at Leicester was his first game for Spurs in exactly 400 days, thanked the manager Mauricio Pochettino, the fans and his family for giving him the encouragement to get through the toughest period of his career. “It was crazy,” said the 25-year-old, reflecting on his time out. “It was probably the worst time of my life. I really wanted to play but it took too long, my injury.”

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Asked whether he was ever concerned about not coming back, Lamela replied: “Of course, in really bad times you always think the worst. But my family was always with me and the supporters wanted me on the pitch, they bring me energy to work every day and to never give up. I’m here today because I really wanted it, and when you really want something you can do it. The manager and all the staff honestly were amazing. They were always with me, behind me. All of us wanted the same thing – me playing. Sometimes you have to respect the times and today I feel better.”

Lamela described the period when he underwent “two surgeries in one month and a half” as his lowest point as he struggled to come to terms with what was happening. “I was not available to play,” he said. “But working every day and doing the right rehabilitation, in my mind was always the feeling that I wanted to play and be back with the team.”

His impact from the bench at Leicester was one of the few positives for Spurs as they suffered a third successive away defeat in the league. Within two minutes of replacing Christian Eriksen, Lamela slid a lovely pass into the path of Kane for the England striker to convert. “Of course, I can get much better, I am still not 100% but I am good enough to play and I’m happy to be back,” said Lamela, who became a father for the first time on Saturday.

Signed in 2013 from Roma for a then club-record £30m, Lamela is out of contract at the end of the season, yet he is not giving any consideration to what may happen with his long-term future. “I don’t want to think about it,” he said. “I am only focused on playing like [against Leicester], recover for training and [taking it] day by day.”