Cristian Stellini has said that Djed Spence has to perform consistently in training if he wants to be handed first-team opportunities.
Spence’s arrival from Middlesbrough in the summer was met with a lot of enthusiasm by Spurs fans as the right-back had won many admirers with his performances on loan at Nottingham Forest last season.
However, the 22-year-old has not started a single game since his switch to the North London club in the summer and finds himself behind Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty in the pecking order.
With Tottenham expected to sign another right wing-back in Pedro Porro shortly (Fabrizio Romano), reports have indicated that the club have given the green light for Spence to be loaned out (90 min).
Stellini has now suggested that the reason the England Under-21 international has struggled to break into the team is that he has not shown as much consistency in training as other young players like Bryan Gil and Pape Sarr have.
When asked how Spence has been improving behind the scenes, Tottenham’s assistant head coach told Football.London: “Being consistent without playing so many times is not easy but being consistent in the training is really important for the type of player like Djed.
“This is the area where he can improve a lot. He’s improved since he is here and he had great improvement but he has to follow like everyone, like Bryan Gil, like Pape Sarr.
“They improve but the season is going on and if you don’t have many chances to play, maybe you need to be consistent in the training.
“There are also hierarchies in the team so we have to respect some hierarchies. It is not easy when you have a number of players, with more players in the rotation than you can use.
“In that moment, if you want to improve we have young players that go on loan but I repeat I am not the right person to speak about that. I speak in general about all the players, not just Djed Spence.”
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It is clear that Conte and his coaching staff do not feel Spence is doing enough in training to warrant opportunities. If the 22-year-old does get loaned out to a Premier League club (which looks likely), we will learn soon enough if their assessment was correct or if they are left with egg on their faces.