Dele Alli: This is what I did in Tottenham dressing room after horror tackle
By Harry Sykes
Dele Alli has revealed that he “apologised” to his Tottenham teammates in the aftermath of their Europa League elimination on Thursday,
The Spurs playmaker also went into the Gent dressing room to check on the condition of midfielder Brecht Dejaegere after his horror tackle.
Spurs were eliminated from Europe on Thursday night after failing to overcome Gent, the eighth-placed side in Belgium’s Jupiler League, at the last-32 stage.
Alli was given a straight red card in the second-leg clash at Wembley after a rush of blood that left his 10-man side needing to score two goals in 49 minutes without conceding.
Goals from Christian Eriksen and Victor Wanyama gave Spurs hope but a 2-2 draw meant they tumbled out of the competition just two months after their Champions League exit.
Alli spoke about the events of Thursday following Tottenham’s 4-0 Premier League demolition of Stoke on Sunday in which he scored the fourth goal to added to Harry Kane’s hat-trick in a sensational first-half display at White Hart Lane.
Asked if he had appreciated the support of the club following his red card, Alli told Sky Sports 1’s live coverage of Spurs’ win over Stoke: “Yes, definitely. I felt horrible straight after the game and at half-time. I apologised to the boys straight after the game and went to see the [Gent] guy to see if he was alright.
“When something like that happens, you want to get straight back out there and make sure you put everything right. I owed it to the players and to the fans to help the team.”
Mauricio Pochettino named an unchanged XI for Sunday’s clash against Stoke, with Alli selected in a central playmaker role.
He responded with his 14th goal of the season to help lift Tottenham to second in the Premier League table, with a haul of 53 points from 26 matches.
In other Tottenham transfer news, a forward has signed after Spurs agreed terms on an out-of-window deal.
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