Djed Spence will have to wear a mask throughout the whole of the World Cup.
But Spence refused to let his American dream suffer a knockout blow after breaking his jaw in the penultimate game of the Premier League season following a challenge by Chelsea ’s Liam Delap.
Tottenham defender Spence admits it has been a “difficult season” after Spurs spent most of the campaign battling against relegation. However, Spence now finds himself in the United States wearing a protective face mask as he insists it will not stop him from fulfilling his dream of representing England on the biggest stage this summer.
When asked whether he feared it could cost him a place in the squad, Spence said: “No, not really. It was painful but luckily I play football with my feet and not my jaw so I was all good. I’ve been wearing it in training, getting used to it in the heat and just trying to fit it in properly so I’ve been trying to break it in.
“It’s a little bit uncomfortable. But it is what it is, I’ve got a broken jaw so I have to wear it throughout the tournament so it’s something I will have to get used to.”
Spence suffered the injury after a challenge by Delap in their penultimate game of the season but the Spurs full back was never going to let it stop him.
“Yeah, crazy challenge but it’s in the past now so just got to focus on this tournament now,” he said.
“I’ve got to wear it through the tournament. It’s three months until it’s fully healed. So, it’s a long time.”
Spence got the nod on the back of what was a long, hard season. He lost his place at times, lost his form and had setbacks which probably left most people thinking he would not make the cut for the 26 man squad for the World Cup.
But Spence - who provided an assist for Harry Kane in England’s win over New Zealand in their first friendly in the United States - says he is grateful to Thomas Tuchel’s loyalty.
Spence said: “Yeah, it shows the manager believes in me, believes in my quality and I’m thankful for him and I just want to keep on putting in the performances to make everyone happy.
“It’s a huge honour, to play for your country is a big thing and I’m over the moon and happy to be here.
“Yeah, it’s been a difficult season. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel and we managed to get out of a difficult situation so we have to move forward. Like I said, focus on this World Cup and hopefully it will be a good one.”
England boss Tuchel identified Spence as being the fastest player in the squad and praised his ability as a one-on-one defender.
The other key strength for Spence is his versatility because he started as a right back but now considers himself more of a left back. His switch inside to cross with his right foot from the left wing has become his signature move and was the route for his cross to provide the assist for Kane.
Spence said: “Obviously I’m naturally a right back but I’ve been playing left back for a couple of years now so I’m still learning the position, still trying to get better but versatility is a good strength to have.
“I haven’t played on the right for a long time but it’s still a strong position for me and hopefully I might be out there on the right in this tournament but if not then I’m happy to be there on the left.
“It is my position now on the left so I just have to practice more and there are things to perfect and hopefully produce more assists like that one for the rest of the tournament.
“Everyone knows how good I am one v one, but going forward is a bit different playing on the left because it’s not my natural side going forward. There’s still stuff I can improve on and I’ve got to try and get more numbers in attack.”