Mousa's praise for Nabil

Nabil Bentaleb paid tribute to Mousa Dembele after his recent breakthrough into the first-team squad - and Mousa returned the compliment after Saturday's 2-0 win against Palace.

In an exclusive story in last week’s newsletter - sign up FREE here - Nabil said he was ‘proud’ to play alongside the Belgian international.

Nabil impressed again in what was his full home debut against Palace, constantly looking for the ball and maintaining possession from the central areas. Indeed, he provided the highlight in a disappointing first half display when he rattled the woodwork from fully 30 yards.

The team stepped up a gear in the second half and goals from Christian Eriksen and Jermain Defoe secured maximum points.

“Everyone can see that Nabil is doing unbelievably well,” said Mousa. “We train with him every day, we all know he can do big things for us and he’s showing that on the pitch. He can be important for us.”

Like his team-mates, Mousa was less impressed with the team’s performance in that goalless first half as Palace created chances and missed a golden chance to take the lead from the penalty spot.

“It was a tough match and in the first half, we weren’t in the game,” said Mousa.

“The second half was much better and we showed everyone what we can do. We were happy in the end but we have to look at the first half.

“As a team, we have certain aims and if we want to achieve them, we will have to play better.”