'It's really up to him' - Dier backs Tottenham outcast Alli to resurrect career

Tottenham outcast Dele Alli can work his way back into Jose Mourinho's first team, according to Eric Dier.

Alli has only played 243 minutes under the Portuguese manager in all competitions this season and has been left out of the squad for Spurs' last three Premier League matches.

The 24-year-old started last Thursday's Europa League contest against Antwerp but was hauled off at half time as the Londoners crashed to a 1-0 defeat.

Mourinho insists the reason for Alli's exclusion is because of the array of attacking stars he has at his disposal - with the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura all ahead of the former MK Dons player for selection.

However, Dier believes his England international team-mate has the ability to resurrect his career under Mourinho - but his fate is solely in his own hands.

"Yeah, of course Dele has the capacity, we all know his quality, we all know what he brings - he’s shown that in the past," he said.

"It’s really up to him to put in the work, the effort, the commitment and I’m sure he will do that.

"That’s who he is, he’s always had that drive. It’s up to him, it’s in his hands and it’s in all of our hands. 

"Individually, we all have to perform, we’ve got a very big squad and we all have to perform at the highest level if we want to play."

Tottenham are flying high in third position on the Premier League table, two points behind leaders Liverpool after seven matches.

Dier intimated that Spurs feel they could be leading the title race but the team was pleased with their start to their campaign.

"We’re happy with where we are but we could be happier," Dier said. "If you look at some games - the Newcastle game with the penalty was very difficult to understand.

"The Everton game wasn’t acceptable and then the West Ham game was the same, [it was] really frustrating to be 3-0 up and it was really important for us to get off the mark at home, get the win.

"Obviously we’ve improved massively away from home which was really our downfall last season.

"It’s great to be up and running with a win at home now and we’ll just look to keep working hard, keep pushing forward.

“It’s very early on but our motivation is clear. For us, we’re going into every game to try and win. We know that’s not possible but that’s our ambition. We’re going into every game, no matter the competition believing we can win."