DELE IS OUR SPECIAL ONE AGAIN
Lloris: Alli switched on the moment window shut
TOTTENHAM captain Ho Lloris has backed Dele A put recent disappointment behind him and help the cl European push.
England midfielder Alli ready to quit White Hart Lan January after falling out of fa with boss Jose Mourinho, with Saint-Germain keen to sign hi But now Alli has rediscovered form, started a second Pre League game of the seaso Fulham on Thursday, a back in first team con tion ahead of tomorrow Crystal Palace clash And Spurs ke Lloris has praised professionalism determination force
back into the team and overcome the setbacks of the past few months. Lloris said: “He’s always been professional. He put his disappointment on the side and in the second part of the season, after the transfer market closed, he switched on and started to step by step improve his fitness and confidence.
“I don’t want to talk about January. It’s his personal situation and I don’t want to talk on behalf of the club, I’m not the right person to do it. Now he’s coming back and that’s good for the team.
“The confidence is coming back into the team and you see important players coming back, like Dele and Gareth Bale (right).
“For different reasons they could not play at the level they wanted to help the team, but it was the case at Fulham and that’s good for the team and for the club.” Tottenham are still in the Europa League, are pushing for a European place and also have next month’s Carabao Cup final to look forward to, and the season is so open that Lloris insists there is still plenty to play for.
He also maintains that a winning run can push them up the table, with the top four places still within reach despite their disastrous run of form in February.
The Frenchman added: “For some reason there has been ups and downs in our performance, but we are still looking to improve things and get better.
“We still believe we can finish high in the table, we’re still in the race. But it’s difficult, obviously. We’ve missed points but with 12 games to go anything is possible and we need to believe.”
Meanwhile, Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho claimed Crystal Palace are under no pressure to win big games and admitted he cannot understand why they have struggled to score goals this season. He said: “I always feel like these teams with quality but without any pressure are very difficult. Knowing that whatever happens they will stay in the middle of the table.
“I feel these teams don’t have any pressure. They just go out and if they win, great, but if they lose, they don’t feel any pressure from the media or fans.
“I just feel it is a nice way to play and to compete. Palace have danger coming from different parts of the game – Zaha, Benteke, Ayew, Batshuayi, Mateta. And that’s not to speak about very good creative players like Townsend. “They have everything to score goals, so their problem is a momentary one. The two matches we played against them – one last season, one this season – they scored. They scored and they took points away from us, so I have lots of respect for them.”