Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has maintained a professional attitude behind-the-scenes despite his struggles under Antonio Conte.

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Spence made the move from the Championship to north London in the summer in a deal which is believed to be worth in the region of £20m from Middlesbrough.

However, the right wing-back has had his struggles in N17 thus far with the Englishman only being able to rack up a handful fo substitute appearances under the Italian manager.

The latest came on the weekend in their FA Cup clash against the League One side Portsmouth where Spence was brought on for a 13-minute cameo.

Despite enduring a difficult spell at Spurs after a promising 2021/22 campaign out on loan with Nottingham Forest, Alasdair Gold has suggested the 22-year-old has not caused any issues at Hotspur Way:

"When I talk about training, the one thing I hear from everyone within the club that I've spoken to about Djed is that he's been a model professional. And honestly, it's been a difficult time for him. It has.

"He's gone from a season where he's playing week in week out. And now he's made a big move to a club where he's barely getting any minutes whatsoever.

"But I'm told that you know, he hasn't really hasn't complained, hasn't dropped his efforts. He's just kind of cracked on and tried to take everything on board from Conte and coaches that he possibly can."

Big January decision

It has become apparent the 22-year-old is not favoured by Conte at all with the cup clash against Forest late last year and then the game on the weekend against Pompey offering the perfect opportunity to give Spence his first start.

However, instead, the wing-back came on from the bench in the second half of both games for Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal respectively.

There have even been reports suggesting that Spurs could look to sell the Brazilian right-back this month following an alleged bust-up at Hotspur Way with one of the coaching staff.

And yet, Spence still finds himself behind Emerson in the pecking order with the 23-year-old being picked ahead of the Englishman in a game against a side in the third-tier of English football.

Reports have surfaced in the past suggesting the defender has a poor attitude but it sounds, from Gold's comments, as if Spence is doing all he can behind the scenes to earn himself an opportunity.

Given his lack of game time up until now, it is difficult to see where the next opportunity will come from with a seriously tough run of games ahead of Spurs against Arsenal, Manchester City and AC Milan all on the horizon.

And with some suggestions that there are clubs from the Premier League and leagues afar interested in Spence this month, we do have to wonder whether he is best leaving on a short-term loan just to get some minutes under his belt.