Antonio Conte says he has been impressed with Djed Spence’s desire to improve during his first few weeks at Tottenham but the full-back is expected to miss out on a return to his old club Nottingham Forest.
Spurs travel to the City Ground on Sunday to take on Steve Cooper’s side, who won promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs last season. Defender Spence was integral to Forest’s success and played 46 times on loan from Middlesbrough, which saw Tottenham spend an initial £12.5million on securing his services in July.
Conte immediately preached patience with the 22-year-old and while he was named on the bench for the league opener with Southampton, he has not been part of the squads to face Chelsea or Wolves and looks set to be absent from the matchday 18 for the trip to the City Ground. Despite Spence currently being restricted to a watching front, he has already given his new manager plenty to be encouraged about with his work over the last month since his move from Boro.
