CHILD’S PLAY FOR BORO BOY SPENCE
Woodie in awe of his ‘fantastic’ teenager
JONATHAN Woodgate hailed teenager Djed Spence after he enjoyed a dream debut in Middlesbrough’s win over Charlton.
Spence’s energetic display at right wing-back proved a key factor in his side’s win.
“Djed came in and did an absolutely fantastic job,” said Woodgate. “Djed can do that. Okay, at times this season we’ve had to sit down and have a few meetings together, and tell him what his potential is. But I thought he was exceptional, and it’s his place to lose now because of that performance.
“I just said, ‘Get the ball Djed, and run’. It’s not rocket science.
“I’m not one of the type of fellas who is going to complicate my words. Just be normal with them.
“Djed is the quickest at the club. He’s difficult to get past one-against-one and, as you saw, he can press, and he presses with a real pace.
“To be fair, the academy, Craig Liddle and Graeme Lee, have done really well with Djed. I’m really pleased for him. We’ve had a lot of meetings this year, and hopefully the penny drops.”
The Teessiders had been thrashed by Leeds in their previous game, but any fears of an Elland Road hangover were dispelled as they claimed the lead after just 50 seconds.
Ashley Fletcher nipped in ahead of Dillon Phillips to prevent the Charlton goalkeeper from gathering Britt Assombalonga’s deflected shot, and the ball broke kindly for George Saville, who swept home his first goal of the season from inside the area.
Saville then curled a sixthminute strike wide of the tarus. get as Boro controlled the early stages.
Charlton failed to record a single effort at goal before the interval, but were livelier in the second half.
However, Boro still came close to claiming a second goal as Assombalonga met Hayden Coulson’s cross with a backpost header that was saved by Dillon Phillips.
Charlton finally recorded their first shot with 20 minutes left, Conor Gallagher curling just past the far post after cutting in from the left. With the Addicks finally coming to life, Boro were hanging on in the closing stages, and Aynsley Pears made a crucial save with one minute left, flinging himself to his right to keep out Albie Morgan’s low drive.
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer admitted his side were never at the races, and is struggling to come up with an explanation for their anaemic display.
“It wasn’t good enough,” said Bowyer. “From the first whistle, they were better than There’s not many times I’ve watched a game and we’ve been that poor.
“It was a disappointing performance, and in the first half we were very poor.
“It’s not like us. Our side is normally fighting and competing, but it’s not like it was just one or two players, it was everybody. I don’t know why. I’ve never seen them like that before.
“I’ll just have to put it down to one of those bad experiences I guess.”