Jose Mourinho has revealed Dele Alli is not in the best frame of mind at present after the 24-year-old was again overlooked for Tottenham Hotspur’s win over Antwerp.
Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso have been preferred ahead of the attacking midfielder this season and Dele was left frustrated on Thursday evening when he failed to even appear as a substitute in the Europa League.
After Tottenham made their fifth sub against Antwerp, Dele left the bench briefly to head down the tunnel, before returning afterwards – but Mourinho was not overly concerned by his reaction.
“Let's not run away from reality,” the manager said after the game.
“A player on the bench who realises all five subs have been used of course is not a happy player and I would not expect him to be happy.”
Harry Winks was also thought to have disappeared down the tunnel in poor spirits after being subbed off around the hour mark, but Mourinho cleared up any confusion by insisting he had told all players to head to the changing room if they prefered.
“I told [Winks] to go, I told every player that left the pitch to go because when the weather is cold I prefer they go to the dressing room and have a shower.
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“I told them to go, some prefer to stay. Winks decided to go and I am happy with that because I am the one that told him to do it.”
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
