Gareth Southgate tells Dele Alli to not worry about World Cup spot | OneFootball

Dele Alli has been carrying a groin injury that limited his minutes in friendlies against Italy and Holland.

Alli featured in the final 22 minutes of England’s 1-0 win over Holland but failed to make any real impact. The 21-year-old sat on the bench in the Three Lions’ 1-1 draw with Italy.

Despite competition brewing in the midfield with Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard putting up fine performances, Gareth Southgate assured Alli that his place in Russia is safe.

“There is no reason he will not come [to the World Cup] and he can make a huge impact there,” said Southgate. “He has so much ability and with all those guys he is another one at an age where he could be playing for the Under-21s. He has the ability and I am looking forward to seeing him over the next few weeks. His relationship with Harry in the team is also important.

“Dele is a very important player and he wasn’t able to finish every session this week, and we had to manage the problem he had when he came into the camp. We have great competition for places, but he is well in that mix.

“We want competition for places, but there is no ulterior motive to leaving him out. We wanted to look at Raheem again. We know Dele has been injured, but he has played in all the games when he has been fit. We wanted to look at Raheem again in that position. It’s a bit like Kyle [Walker], it’s a bit like Ox [Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain], there are others we wanted to learn more about and we wanted to protect Dele as well with his little problem.”

Alli is expected to be fit for Tottenham’s important clash against Chelsea on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.