Dele Alli has promised to keep his emotions in check following a chat with Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
The midfielder was retrospectively banned for the final three matches of last season after punching West Brom's Claudio Yacob in the stomach in an off-the-ball incident.
The 20-year-old has displayed an aggressive streak in the early stages of his career, but has vowed to make an effort to prevent that bubbling over into situations that could land him in trouble.
"The manager spoke to me and from what happened last year I had to miss the last three games, so I realised I can't do those sorts of things," said Alli at an England media conference on Friday.
"So I have been working on it and I know I need to keep it under control.
"It was a crazy year for me, it happening quickly and I've got a lot of people to thank for it. There were definitely a lot of things that I've learnt from last season.
"I'm young, I'm 20 now and I've hopefully got a long career ahead of me. I just want to keep improving and getting better, then hopefully this season can be better than last season."
Alli and England take on Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday – Sam Allardyce's first match in charge since succeeding Roy Hodgson following the dismal Euro 2016 campaign.
The build-up to the game has been dominated by the news captain Wayne Rooney will retire from international football following the tournament in Russia in 2018.
Alli was fulsome in his praise of the Manchester United forward and rejected the notion he was looking to usurp Rooney as England's first choice in the number 10 role.
"He's a fantastic player and I think he could have kept playing, but whatever decision he's made is up to him, but he's a great guy and we'll all be working extra hard," added Alli.
"Everyone likes a bit of competition. I'm going to keep working hard and I'll play anywhere for my country."
No comments:
Post a Comment