Djed Spence on life at Tottenham and Antonio Conte ‘club signing’ remarks

Alex Young @alexwsyoung18 October 2022

Djed Spence believes his tactical knowledge has improved since joining Tottenham and insists he will be "ready" for when a chance presents itself.

The £12.5million signing has barely featured for Spurs following a summer move from Middlesbrough, with boss Antonio Conte referring to him as a "club signing" on several occasions, though the manager admitted on Friday that Spence was "starting to understand" the demands of being a Tottenham player.

Asked about Conte's remarks, Spence said: "I didn't really see it. I don't really pay attention. I just train, you know, pay attention to my football and train hard. Let the rest do the rest obviously."

Spence could make his full debut when Spurs take on his former club Nottingham Forest in the third round of the Carabao Cup next month.

"I mean I want to play not just in the cup, in the league as well so whether my first start comes in the league or the cup, I've just got to be ready," he said. "I always believe in myself but football, you never know what happens in football so you've just got to be patient and when the time comes, the time will come."

Asked what he has improved upon since the move, Spence said: "Definitely my tactical side. I am learning a lot from training and learning a lot from the guys, so I am learning a lot at the moment.

"I guess it is just something new that me, myself, I have got to learn but I am working hard to improve, working hard to get in the team and hopefully I can get some run of games soon. I have just got to be patient and when my time comes, I've just got to take it."

Spence has been afforded just a handful of minutes so far this season.
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Former Fulham trainee Spence also paid tribute after Saturday's game to the late Gian Piero Ventrone, who died earlier in October after spending 11 months as Spurs' fitness coach.

"Yeah probably but it was good stuff," Spence replied when asked if Ventrone's sessions were the hardest he had faced. "He was a good guy, always pushing us to our limits. Obviously I didn't know him as well as the other boys but what I knew was he was a very hard-working guy.

"He always made sure we did things right and would push ourselves to places we thought we couldn't go so yeah, he was a top guy."

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