Why Oliver Skipp and Djed Spence missed Tottenham Hotspur’s friendly tie against OGC Nice
Djed Spence and Oliver Skipp completely missed Tottenham Hotspur’s friendly clash against OGC Nice on 21 December, which finished 1-1.
This was a great chance for both the English youngsters to get some playing time under their belt. But unfortunately, the duo missed out on the friendly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium due to a fever.
Speaking ahead of the game, manager Antonio Conte told SPURSPLAY (h/t Football.London):
“…we have some problems with some players, Sonny, in the last two days, didn’t have a training session because of a fever, the same with Skippy and Spence. I hope to recover Skippy for tomorrow, but today he didn’t train because he has a fever.”
Son Heung-min recovered in time to come on as a substitute during the match. Matt Doherty’s 21st-minute goal was cancelled out by Antonio Mendy’s equaliser in the second half, but this game was more about handing playing time to our team.
Spence has had just three Premier League appearances this season, all as a last-minute substitute. The 22-year-old came to Spurs amid much hype this summer after helping Nottingham Forest to a Premier League promotion.
But the Englishman has had next to no chances to prove his worth in competitive games. Friendlies are a chance for him to do just that, but unfortunately, he missed out against the Ligue 1 outfit.
Skipp is one of the midfielders that weren’t loaned out this summer. Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele, and Harry Winks were all allowed to leave temporarily, but Conte kept Skipp.
He had an injury at the start of the season which limited his playing time. But he has featured, albeint not prominently, in six of our last eight Premier League games.
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He is likely to enjoy a more prominent role in the coming months considering we only have Yves Bissouma and Skipp as backup to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur, especially considering how Conte has, at times, played with a three-man midfield this season.
