Former Tottenham Hotspur star Garth Crooks has insisted that Spurs midfielder Dele Alli needs to take the competition from team-mate Erik Lamela as a compliment and fight for his place in the team.
Alli, who signed a six-year contract extension with Spurs last month, returned to action during the 1-0 loss to Manchester City following his recovery from a hamstring injury.
The 22-year-old was left out of Tottenham’s squad that registered a 3-2 win over Wolves at Molineux on Saturday as Mauricio Pochettino opted to manage his squad carefully ahead of a Champions League meeting with PSV Eindhoven this week.
Lamela, who has been directly involved in 11 goals during his last 12 appearances for Tottenham, scored against Wolves and is proving to be an invaluable asset as he starts to repay Pochettino's faith.
Crooks insisted that Alli needs to take the tough competition for places at Tottenham as a positive sign and added that he should be prepared to fight it out with Lamela for a place in the starting eleven.
“The Argentine's performance against Wolves simply reinforced what I already knew”, Crooks wrote in his column for BBC Sport.
“If Alli knows what is good for him he should treat the challenge as a compliment.
“Competition for places has always been in the best interest of the team and the player on the bench can learn a lot.
“Mainly how to win his place back”, he added.
Tottenham will next face PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday at Wembley before making the trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday to face Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
