The Tottenham Hotspur full-back is set to take part in his first World Cup after the competition kicked off on Thursday night
Eric Dier admits he spoke to Djed Spence ahead of the World Cup to ensure the Tottenham and England full-back enjoys it to the maximum.
Like Dier in the past for England, Spence’s versatility has been a major factor in his chances of making Thomas Tuchel’s squad with the 25-year-old able to play in either his natural right-back role or at left-back. He has been required in that role for much of the past couple of seasons as Spurs have suffered injuries in that position and Spence has also played as a winger on both flanks in games for the north London club.
Spence now has six England caps and will be hoping to play at the World Cup, which is being held across the United States, Canada and Mexico. His first opportunity to make his debut in the showpiece competition comes on Wednesday night when Tuchel’s men take on Croatia in Dallas.
Spence will play at the tournament in a custom-made jaw protector after the flying elbow from Chelsea striker Liam Delap that broke the full-back’s jaw last month.
Dier, who spent almost a decade at Spurs and 18 months of that with Spence, played at two World Cups and was asked if he had a message for his former team-mate.
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“Just to enjoy it – I’ve already told him to! We were together at the club for a while and we stay in touch. I spoke to him a couple of days ago,” he said in an interview with Tottenham.
“It will be one of the best experiences he’s going to have in his career and, hopefully, he’ll have more. I think Djed has fantastic individual characteristics, some of them physical, some of them technical and some of them mental.”
Dier believes Spence has a bright future under new Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi after overcoming his early struggles to get minutes at the club.
“I’m excited to see him with the new manager at Spurs next season,” said the 32-year-old Monaco centre-back. “I think he has fantastic attributes. He just needs to keep working hard and stay calm. He has fantastic abilities and I like him, too. I feel like he had a tough time, you know, for a while and he showed real resilience to get through that.”
