Jed Spence will be required to wear a mask throughout the World Cup.
But Spence refused to lose his American dream to a knockout blow after breaking his jaw following a challenge from Chelsea’s Liam Delap in the penultimate game of the Premier League season.
Tottenham defender Spence admitted it has been a “difficult season” after Spurs spent much of the season battling relegation. But Spence now finds himself in the US wearing a protective mask and insists it will not stop him from achieving his dream of representing England on the biggest stage this summer.
Asked if he thought he would lose his place on the team, Spence said: “No, not really. It was painful, but luckily I play football with my feet and not my chin, so I was fine. I’ve been trying to get used to it, wearing it in training, getting used to the heat, trying to fit properly.”
“It’s a little uncomfortable, but that’s the reality. I have a broken jaw so I have to wear it the whole tournament, so I have to get used to it.”
Spence was injured following a challenge from Delap in the penultimate game of the season, but the Spurs full-back was never going to stop him.
“Yeah, it’s a crazy challenge, but it’s in the past and now I have to focus on this tournament,” he said.
“I have to wear them during the tournament. It takes three months to fully recover. So it’s a long time.”
Looking back, Spence understands that it was a long and tough season. Most people would have thought he wouldn’t make the World Cup’s 26-man squad because he was out of place at times, out of form and had setbacks.
But Spence, who provided the assist for Harry Kane in England’s first friendly win over New Zealand in the United States, says he is grateful to manager Thomas Tuchel for his loyalty.
Spence said: “Yeah, it shows that the manager believes in me and believes in my quality. I’m grateful to the manager and I just want to keep performing to make everyone happy.”
“It’s a huge honour. It’s a big thing to play for your country and I’m very happy to be here.
“Yes, it’s been a difficult season. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel and we’ve managed to get out of a difficult situation and we have to move forward. As I said, focus on this World Cup. I hope it’s a good tournament.”
Jed Spence of England in the win over New Zealand (Image: Dustin Markland/Shutterstock)
England manager Tuchel said Spence was the fastest player on the team and praised his ability as a one-on-one defender.
Another key strength of Spence is his versatility. He started as a right-back, but now considers himself a left-back. His signature move was switching inside from the left and crossing with his right foot, and his cross was the route to assist Kane.
Spence said: “Obviously I’m primarily a right-back, but I’ve been playing left-back for the last few years so I’m still learning the position and trying to get better, but versatility is a good asset to have.”
“I haven’t played on the right side for a long time, but right side is still a strong position for me and hopefully I can play on the right side in this tournament, but if not I’ll be happy to be on the left side.
“My current position is on the left, so I need to practice more, there are things I need to perfect and hopefully I can produce more assists like that for the rest of the tournament.”
“Everyone knows how good I am one-on-one, but going forward is a little different than playing on the left, because going forward on the left is not my natural side. There are still things I can improve on and I have to try to get more numbers in attack.”
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