Dele's delight at return

After nearly two months on the sidelines, Dele Alli is relieved to be back in action.

Attacking midfielder Dele had not been involved with the team since he suffered a hamstring injury in our 2-1 win over Fulham in January but, following his return to full training last week, he was given the nod by Mauricio Pochettino to start against Southampton last weekend.

While on the whole it was a very frustrating afternoon for us at St Mary’s as we suffered a 2-1 defeat, the 22-year-old admitted that he relished the chance to get back out onto the pitch.

“It was good to be back and I felt good out there,” our number 20 explained. “As a footballer it’s obviously one of the worst things to be out injured.

“When you’re training really hard, trying to get back fit and watching the boys play, you just want to be out there helping the team as much as you can.”

The squad has travelled out to Barcelona for a week of intensive training as we prepare for the season’s final run-in.

And, now back fit and involved with the team, Dele wants to do everything he can to help us push on for the final straight.

“We’ve got to try to finish the season as strongly as we can," the England international said.

 “The (Barcelona) trip has been good. It's been great to all get together, keep working and train hard, just getting the team chemistry and morale back up again.

“Personally, I want to try to help the team as much as possible, get some goals and assists and try to keep up some good form.

“As a team we have to turn it around, we can’t dwell on the recent results too much - we have to try to fix what’s gone wrong in the last few games and finish the season as strongly as we can.”