Djed Spence makes note of detractors after England callup saying England call-up ‘proves them wrong’ in earnest.
‘I have a mental note of the doubters’: Djed Spence takes aim at Conte and Warnock.
According to Djed Spence, a first England call-up is a fitting retort to everyone who questioned his capacity to make it, including Antonio Conte and Neil Warnock.
After spending three seasons on loan before making a name for himself in the Premier League last season, the Tottenham full-back acknowledges that it has been “a long journey” to make it to the England senior group. Warnock also loaned Spence to Middlesbrough in 2021, warning him that if his commitment didn’t improve, he might be playing non-league football in five years.
The 25-year-old defender’s recuperation has been driven by doubts. If he plays in the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra on Saturday or in Serbia on Tuesday, he will be even more proud to be the first Muslim to play for the senior England squad.
“I wouldn’t say I particularly have a list but I do have a mental note of people who doubted me, for sure, and it does feel good to prove them wrong,” Spence said.
“I’ve always had that from a young age, from grassroots football to academy – if you’re going to stay on or get released or get your scholar [contract] – to being a professional. I’ve always had to fight for my position and deal with disappointment.”
Spence and Conte’s love is still intact. When Spence joined from Middlesbrough in 2022, the Spurs’ head coach distanced himself from him, referring to him as “an investment of the club” and someone “the club decided to buy.” Spence’s confidence was destroyed when he concluded his debut season as a Spurs player on loan at Rennes.
He also played on loan at Leeds and Genoa during his debut season under Ange Postecoglou, but he maintains that he will always be appreciative of Postecoglou because “he made me a champion” with the Europa League victory.
“The biggest hurdle is when I signed for Tottenham and I didn’t necessarily feel the love straight away,” Spence said. His mum, Aisha, is an avid Spurs fan. “I was on such a high going into the club. I’d done really well, got promoted with Nottingham Forest. I am buzzing, I am going to sign for Tottenham. So to hear comments like that wasn’t nice. It does shatter your confidence a bit. I almost came crashing down because of comments from the manager and not playing. I was in a difficult space.
“I went out on loan, was playing a bit and then stopped playing. Then I had the Euros that year [2023] with England Under-21s but got injured right before. I couldn’t make it to the Euros, which was obviously another disappointment because I would have loved to have gone and the boys ended up winning as well. Sometimes, in football when things go bad, they go really bad. That was a point in my career where it was really tough. But I am a fighter. Fast forward, I am here now, so I am happy.”