Milner backs Alli to thrive despite media pressure

(Reuters) - James Milner has backed fellow England midfielder Dele Alli to continue his meteoric rise but urged the media not to put too much pressure on the teenager as it could have a detrimental affect on his development. Alli, who won his first cap in October, was inspirational in Saturday's come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Germany in Berlin and has been instrumental in Tottenham Hotspur's bid to end a 55-year wait for an English title. Milner, who linked up with Alli for England's recent friendlies, is convinced, given the time, the 19-year-old "can be 10 times better" than he is now. "We want to be careful now and make sure we don't put too much on him. We know how good he can be but we have seen it time and time again... and there is a lot of pressure there," the Liverpool midfielder told British media. "We want to take it off him and let him go out there and not worry about it, worry about playing football and keep improving because he is still young. Good as he is at this moment, he can be 10 times better and he will. "He has a great attitude and will keep working hard and keep improving but we need to take that spotlight off him and let him develop and improve. We have seen how good he is and he will only get better I'm sure." Milner, however, will be aiming to put a dent in Alli's hopes on winning the Premier League when Spurs, who are five points behind leaders Leicester City, travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Saturday. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)