Tottenham star Dele Alli has been defended after an indifferent start to the 2019/20 season.
Alli started his career at Spurs like a house on fire as he bagged ten, 18 and nine goals in consecutive Premier League campaigns.
But it was a down season for Alli last term as he only netted five goals and assisted three, while this season only his fifth appearance of the campaign came at Everton this afternoon.
Alli has been heavily criticised of late but former Everton star Tim Cahill has issued a strong defence of the 23-year-old, citing his injury history as a reason why the England international should be given the benefit of the doubt.
"I don't think it's right to criticise him because he's still young. He's 23 years old and he's had three separate hamstring injuries," Cahill told Sky Sports.
"I think he should play. He always gets his goals and he has high standards. Lately he has been injured quite a lot. It's difficult to get that run back in the team and he just needs games.
"He has so much to give to the game and it's all about time. Everyone loses a little bit of devilment here and there.
"Hamstring injuries are very difficult to recover from. It affects everything. He needs to be dynamic in the pocket and those injuries are not something that's easy to deal with as a youngster."
