I’LL LAUGH OFF WIND-UPS
DELE ALLI has accused opponents of targeting him after he punched West Brom’s Claudio Yacob last season.
The Spurs midfielder faces a three-game ban for his shocking tackle on Brecht Dejaegere in the Europa League defeat at Gent last Thursday.
But Alli – suspended for three games for hitting Yacob in April – maintains he now has his temper under control despite rival players trying to provoke him.
He said: “I’ll never stop wanting to win, I have just learned to control it a bit better.
“I focus on the football, not getting wound up as easily. After that incident, I think some people thought they could wind me up.
“I’ve got everything under control. You expect things like that to happen, as people do everything to try to win the game. I’m not bothered either way.” Stoke had a number of players booked for fouling Alli as the north Londoners thrashed them 4-0 on Sunday.
That prompted Eric Dier to warn his team-mate he will have to cope with having a target on his back.
Last month Alli showed he could walk away from trouble when he did not retaliate when pushed in the face by Middlesbrough’s Victor Valdes.
“Things got a bit heated. I just had to stay calm,” he told the April edition of Four Four Two magazine.
“I didn’t want to do anything to get yellow carded. Hopefully that’s a sign I’ve matured.”
On punching Yacob, he added: “It’s something I regret. It was a mistake. But sometimes you need to make mistakes in order to learn the lessons from them.
“I have learned from it and it’s helped me to grow as a player and as a person.”