Dele Alli has said that he does not bear a grudge towards Raheem Sterling, who left the Tottenham midfielder with an injured ankle during Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
Sterling was fortunate not to have a yellow card upgraded to a red after VAR checked his foul on Alli during a controversial first half but the England teammates were seen speaking amicably and shaking hands before the start of the second half. Alli struggled before being taken off and Spurs are expected to check the severity of the injury on Monday.
“We were speaking about it at half-time and we are good friends,” Alli said. “I know what sort of player Raheem is and he would never intentionally try to hurt someone. There are no hard feelings, he is a fantastic player and we move on.”
Alli, who said his ankle was sore, was asked if Sterling should have been sent off. “I am not sure to be honest,” he said. “I have not had a proper look back at it, it is obviously for the referee and VAR to make the decision. They didn’t give the red card.”
Spurs moved four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea thanks to goals from Steven Bergwijn, who scored a stunning volley on his debut, and Son Heung-min. José Mourinho’s side visit Chelsea on 22 February.
“If you look at the table we know it is getting closer,” Alli said. “We obviously know it is going to be difficult but we know where we should be as a team. We know we have let ourselves down at times and not got the right results but we just have to take each game and keep improving and hopefully we will be up there at the end.”
Alli paid tribute to Christian Eriksen, who left Spurs for Internazionale last week. “Chris is an amazing player, but it came to that point where he wanted to move on,” he said. “It was sad for me and the other boys because he got on with everyone, he was a great squad player, he got on well, he was great in training and always working hard on the pitch. He gave me a lot of assists as well and I am going to miss them, but at the same time I wish him all the best and I am sure we will speak soon, maybe go for dinner.
“He’s been amazing. You don’t want to speak to him too much about what is going on but he has been giving 100%, always been training hard, always been committed to the club. You read a lot and see a lot but you would never be able to tell that he wasn’t focused. He was always positive and never really spoke about anything other than Tottenham. It is a huge honour to have played with him and I wish him all the best.”