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Tottenham's Dier warns Alli to expect more of the same after Stoke provocation

Seeing red: Dele Alli is sent off against Gent
Seeing red: Dele Alli is sent off against Gent

Tottenham’s Eric Dier says opponents will keep trying to provoke and wind up Dele Alli after his dismissal at Wembley – but he believes his team-mate responded in the perfect way by scoring in yesterday’s victory over Stoke.

Alli’s frustrations have got the better of him on a few occasions since his move to north London.

He was booked 11 times last season and was banned for the final three games after punching West Bromwich Albion’s Claudio Yacob, while the red mist appeared to descend again on Thursday when he put in a horrible shin-high tackle on Gent’s Brecht Dejaegere and was sent off.

Alli’s first-half exit was a key factor as Mauricio Pochettino’s side lost 3-2 on aggregate to their Belgian foes and exited the Europa League – and Stoke predictably tested the 20-year-old’s temperament during Sunday’s Premier League clash at White Hart Lane.

Charlie Adam and Marko Arnautovic were both booked for challenges on Alli, while Pochettino was unhappy with another incident involving Ryan Shawcross.

However, the midfielder scored Spurs’ final goal during the rampant 4-0 home win, which took the Lilywhites up to second place in the table – and Dier was pleased to see his good friend bouncing back positively.

“I think he has to expect that from players like Stoke have – experienced players who have been around the block,” said Dier.

“He needs to expect players will try to irritate him, try to get in his head, but I think he knows that and he handles it very well. It’s only normal that he’s going to get better at it over time.

“He’s very young and that won’t be the last mistake he makes. He’s going to make more mistakes and the most important thing is he learns from them and reacts in the right way after them – and he does.

“He’s been fine. He was very disappointed after what happened on Thursday and there’s always going to be a lot of attention on him.

“I don’t think it fazes him. He played his game and scored a goal, and everyone will forget about what happened on Thursday.”

Spurs’ emphatic win saw Pochettino’s men bounce back from a fortnight which produced just one win in four games – a 3-0 FA Cup victory over Championship side Fulham.

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Dier added: “The whole team was motivated to do well after what happened [against Gent].

“We can be very proud of the way we played in the second half last week with 10 men – the way we fought. But we need to do that every week – to play as we did in that second half in every game. We’ve set the level and now we have to be at that level every time.

“It was a really good result for us [against Stoke], after recent weeks, to get back on the right track and to bounce back in the right way after Thursday.

“We have a lot of home games in a row now so we’ll try to pick up as many points as possible and get some good momentum back.

“The way the league is and how tight it is at the top, goal difference could be huge, so we know that and it’s on our mind. We wanted to score as many as possible. We were a bit disappointed we didn’t win the second half, as it were.”

Harry Kane struck Spurs’ first three goals against Stoke, netting his second hat-trick in eight days and his third in nine matches.

The 23-year-old has now scored 22 times in all competitions this season and is joint top of the Premier League’s goalscoring chart, despite missing 10 games between September and November due to an ankle injury.

“It’s fantastic for us and him, he’s a fantastic finisher and I think everyone knows that now,” said Dier.

“I’m really happy for him and hopefully he can keep scoring lots of goals for us.

“It’s disappointing for him and us that he wasn’t fitter [earlier in the season] because I don’t think there’s any doubt he would be top scorer now if he wasn’t injured. He keeps proving it, his consistency is amazing and hopefully he will keep going.”

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