Watch Everton vs Tottenham live from 4pm on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm. Match highlights available shortly after full-time on the Sky Sports website and app
Friday 1 November 2019 15:28, UK
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has urged everyone to remember how young Dele Alli is, as the Spurs midfielder attempts to regain his form.
Alli has scored 43 Premier League goals in 134 appearances since he burst onto the scene aged 19 four seasons ago.
However, the two-time PFA Young Player of the Year has struggled with a series of injuries since he featured for England at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and is yet to rekindle the form he showed prior to that tournament.
Pochettino said: "We need to remember that Dele is still so young and the demand and pressure is massive for him.
"Everyone expects big things - he's English, he's an international but is still 23 years old. He was fantastic and of course he's dropped a little bit in performance but we need to help and back him.
"He needs to pay attention and be focused to try to improve and be strong again and perform in the way everyone expects."
Alli scored for Tottenham against Everton at Goodison Park last December and Spurs travel to Merseyside on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, with both teams looking to improve their poor start to the season.
Spurs currently sit 11th in the Premier League table after four defeats in their opening 10 games, but Pochettino remains positive his team will re-emerge from this tough period.
He said: "It's important to create the atmosphere that is going to help achieve all that you want. It is a situation that only we can fix by winning games.
"It's our responsibility to deliver a very good performance on Sunday against a good team like Everton. Trying to win is going to be the best medicine to fix all.
"We need to be positive, feeling that positivity makes us believe we can beat any team. At the moment we struggle a little bit in our confidence, we've dropped a lot of confidence that is only time.
"The most important is how we are going to finish, it's not nice to see you in the middle of the table but that is a reality we need to accept.
"If you don't accept the reality you are going to struggle. In our mind we know very well that we need time, to be strong, be solid and start to win because that is going to be the best thing for us."
Providing competition in the midfield for Alli and co is the returning Giovani Lo Celso.
Spurs brought the 23-year-old in on loan from Real Betis in the summer, but he has only made five substitute appearances since his arrival due to a hip injury sustained while on international duty in September.
Lo Celso has been recalled by Argentina for their upcoming November internationals and Pochettino is unhappy with his country's decision as he fears a recurrence of the injury.
Pochettino explained: "Always as a manager you want your player at home. For him it's going to be tough because again when he is nearly fit to start again to play, he needs to go away.
"When you change the dynamic of a training session, situations can happen, some wrong situations.
"Being honest I am not happy but I accept because I always defend the national team.
"I always back the decision of the national team because I was a player and I know what it feels like when you play for your flag - but I can do nothing."
Although Lo Celso is in contention to start his first game on Sunday, Spurs will be without Hugo Lloris and Erik Lamela due to injury, while Jan Vertonghen faces a late fitness test.
Watch Everton vs Tottenham live from 4pm on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.
