Southgate: Dele’s special relationship with Jose is great news for England too

GARETH SOUTHGATE is pleased Dele Alli is giving him a selection headache ahead of Euro 2020.

Alli hit two at home to Bournemouth on Saturday and has scored three times in his last two games under new Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho.

The England forward has shown signs of a return to his consistent goal-scoring form and Southgate agrees with Mourinho (below, with

Alli) that Alli should not play in midfield.

“Jose has played him as a No.10 and that’s his best position, having the freedom to run on into the box, that has been very clear for a long time,” said the Three Lions boss

(right). “So it’s great he’s back on the scoring trail.

“At the moment they are fighting to get into Tottenham’s team and pleasing their manager there, so if the consequence of that is they are in form for us then for sure that will be in the players’ minds, but at this stage of the season they are thinking about their clubs.

“We have brilliant competition for places in those attacking areas. We haven’t struggled for goals in qualifying, that’s not been a problem.

“The last time we had the players together they had played 12 matches, the next time we see them they will have 30 so a lot can happen in that period of time in terms of form and injury and not a lot of it that we can control.” Southgate insists the tournament is not a chance for him to exorcise his demons after his semi-final penalty miss against Germany at Euro 96.

He maintains that moment came in World Cup shoot-out success last summer in Russia.

“It’s not a case of exorcising anything for me,” he added. “If anything the penalty shoot-out against Colombia was that moment.

“I am all about how we make this team as good as we can be and be successful in the summer as a team and as a group.

“All I know from ’96 is that it is going to be a brilliant atmosphere for those group matches and we have every incentive to progress as far as we can.”

Southgate is refusing to be swept away by the excitement now that the draw has been made.

“It’s the same as we’ve had for 50 years and we’ve got to three semi-finals! So the opportunity is for us to go further than so many teams in the past.

“This team has a chance to make a difference. They’ve got an opportunity to really excite our country again. They know what that felt like two years ago from a slightly further distance and this time they get the chance to feel it really close up.”