Tottenham Hotspur favourite Glenn Hoddle believes Dele Alli should be able to win back his starting position with England ahead of this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia. The 21-year-old could only find himself as a substitute during the recent run of international friendlies with Gareth Southgate preferring to pick Jesse Lingard ahead of him in the pecking order.

However, Hoddle feels this won’t have a long-term effect on the young attacker, and feels Alli should command a regular role ahead of the likes of Adam Lallana, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being a bigger threat in front of goal. Speaking to The Mail, he said: “For Dele Alli’s own peace of mind, I hope he realises a little dip in form for a 21-year-old prospect is completely normal and he’ll learn more about himself as a player now than at any other time.

“It could be the making of Dele, and there are plenty of important matches left to win back his England starting place before the World Cup.And if you look at his rivals for the position — Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Jack Wilshere — he is a better goalscorer than any of them. An in-form Dele Alli is probably even better than Jesse Lingard in that regard.”

Alli had only managed one goal for club and country over the past 18 appearances, but he put the lean record to bed on Sunday as he produced a match-winning performance against Chelsea. Spurs went into the game without a victory in 27 outings at Stamford Bridge, but they managed to change the tide with a comfortable 3-1 triumph.

Alvaro Morata opened the scoring for Chelsea in the first-half, but they were pegged back before the break with a wonder-goal from Christian Eriksen. Following the interval, it was more of the Alli show as he scored a brace in the space of just five second-half minutes. The result ensured Spurs bagged the bragging rights for the derby whilst ending their gap over fifth-placed Chelsea to eight points.