Antonio Conte still won’t start Djed Spence

TalkSport correspondent Richard Cracknell has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte won’t start Djed Spence in their next game.

After Emerson Royal was sent off in the club’s north London derby defeat, Spurs will have to replace him in their upcoming Premier League game this weekend. However, Emerson was still trusted to start midweek in the Champions League draw against Eintracht Frankfurt.

While speaking about alternative wing-back options to the press recently, Conte dropped a damning claim on Spence, saying: “The fans have to be fans. The fans is the fans, I understand they can think everything but I see every day what happens during the training session.”

Before adding in regard to the defender: “If I didn’t decide to pick one player it’s maybe because he’s not ready. We are talking about a young player with a good prospect, but I repeat, I try to pick the best team.”

With that in mind, Cracknell said he expects the manager to double down on his opinion and play Ivan Perisic in that role against Brighton & Hove Albion instead of Spence.

Indeed, he told the Last Word on Spurs podcast: “He won’t play Spence. He’ll put Perisic over there. He won’t play Spence because he’s been questioned on it in a press conference.

“So Conte’s a doubler-down, and because he’s been questioned about these new players coming in, I don’t think he likes to be questioned with his authority.

“So I think he will just go, ‘right, I ain’t playing them’. Simple as that.”

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To be fair to Cracknell, it doesn’t seem likely that Conte will play Matt Doherty either, with the Italian telling the press recently: “Doherty last season played every game. Now I’m not seeing him in the right way to start the game. I’m not stupid, I don’t want to lose. I try to put the best team, to pick the best team.”

With that in mind, it’s hard to see either Spence or Doherty playing this weekend, so there is every chance Perisic will be switched to the right, allowing Ryan Sessegnon – who has started four times in the league – to play on the left.

All in all, it doesn’t sound too great for Spence, who joined in a £20m deal this summer from Middlesbrough having signed a five-year contract but has only played one minute of football for Spurs so far.

What’s more, when he did arrive, Conte said it was a club purchase rather than someone he wanted, so it really does seem as if the Italian doesn’t rate the youngster.