Dele Alli has once again found himself in the headlines after missing out on the Tottenham squad to face Newcastle.
Absent entirely for the Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Southampton games, the attacking midfielder was back in the starting XI on Thursday evening against Shkendija.
However, he didn't appear to do enough to convince Jose Mourinho to call him into his squad to face the Magpies.
Making a number of changes to his team due to the club's intense schedule, the head coach was forced into another one shortly after the teams were announced at 1pm.
Spurs confirmed that Moussa Sissoko had been forced to pull out of the matchday squad due to illness, with Gedson Fernandes the one to replace him.
That in turn raised question marks about Alli as he has been linked with a move away from the club before the transfer deadline due to his lack of match action.
Sissoko was withdrawn from the squad with Tottenham choosing not to comment on the nature of the illness - standard procedure when it comes to illness before and after the current pandemic.
When it comes to Dele not being the 19th man, there's a reason for that.
The 19th man, who travels to matches in case of illness or injury on the day, is normally a younger player not considered to a first team regular.
It's often academy players on the fringes of the team or younger players who are yet to break into the team regular.
For instance, last season Ryan Sessegnon took on the role a number of times as did Kyle Walker-Peters plenty of times under Mauricio Pochettino.
Today with Sissoko's late withdrawal, it's Gedson who travelled with the team and it's probably more a statement about his position in Mourinho's thinking than Alli's.
The young Portuguese midfielder's versatility also marks him out a handy 19th man to cover a number of positions.
Alli will be looking to return to the matchday squad next week with Tottenham facing three games in three competitions.
Chelsea are first up on Tuesday evening in the Carabao Cup, with a Europa League tie against Maccabi Haifa and a league game at Manchester United following the London derby,
