Twenty-six minutes is all Djed Spence has played for Tottenham since making the move to north London in the summer. Excelling for Nottingham Forest as he helped them clinch promotion to the Premier League in his season on loan from Middlesbrough, many thought the 22-year-old would come in and instantly flourish in Antonio Conte's system.
After all, he seemed the perfect player to make the right wing-back position his own due to his attacking qualities after registering three goals and five assists in his year at the City Ground. That has not been the case, however, with the player only featuring four times for the Lilywhites.
Due to the struggles of Emerson Royal in the final third and Matt Doherty unable to recapture his best form after recovering from a knee injury, Tottenham fans have been calling very loudly for Spence to be given his opportunity on a regular basis. Conte has instead persevered with the aforementioned duo, making it clear numerous times in press conferences that Spence needs time to adapt to a new level as well as his and the team's ways to begin with.
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The wing-backs hold the key to Spurs' system really thriving and the opening few months of the season has highlighted that more needs to be done in the transfer market by Fabio Paratici. Tottenham certainly aren't there on either flank just yet, although their left side, which will be boosted by Destiny Udogie next season, has looked the stronger out of the two.
Addressing the right must be a priority for the managing director of football in the transfer market, and January could be rather telling once the window reopens for business. Prior to then, Spurs' three right wing-backs have the perfect opportunity to catch Conte's eye ahead of their return to action against Brentford on Boxing Day.
Following a mid-season break with the domestic campaign pausing for the World Cup just over two weeks ago, a number of Tottenham players returned to Hotspur Way on Monday to resume their training. Spence and Emerson were among those to return, with Clement Lenglet, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski some of the other notable names.
With a good four weeks to work with Conte and his coaching staff ahead of the trip to Brentford Community Stadium, it is a golden chance for those on the periphery of the team and one they cannot let pass by. Spence is certainly someone that applies to after playing a bit-part role ever since his switch from Middlesbrough.
A move that looked like it would go through very early in the summer so the England Under-21s international could be there for the opening week of pre-season, the deal eventually came to fruition after the team had finished their pre-season tour of South Korea. Spence would certainly have benefited from the quality time with his new teammates in the Far East and also the training but it was just not to be.
Missing the first few weeks of Conte's demanding pre-season training, the ex-Forest loanee was playing catch-up after that as he tried to reach the levels the head coach requires in such a short space of time. Always going to need time to bed in and adapt to the Italian's ways, Spence does appear to have made an impression on his boss but the minutes unfortunately haven't been there for him.
The limited number of first-team players at Hotspur Way for the next few weeks will allow the summer signing to work extremely closely with Conte and work on his game. It will be a key period for the right-sided player to take in every single word and help reach the next level.
Paratici and Conte have a decision to make in terms of their man come January if his playing time does not improve. A loan move would be beneficial if the first part of the season is to be repeated as Spence simply needs to be playing football to aid his development.
That is down to the two Italians to decide as they aim to make a much-needed change at right wing-back and solve a key issue in the Tottenham team. Spence has the opportunity to change Conte's thinking over the coming weeks, though, and it is something he must seize with both hands if he is to finally get his Tottenham career up and running.
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