Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli says he wants to control, not lose, his aggressive nature

Dele Alli insists he does not want to lose the aggressive streak in his game, only get it under control.

The Tottenham midfielder was on the receiving end of a series of heavy tackles from Lithuania players on Sunday but has also been guilty of his own displays of hot-headedness.

Uefa handed Alli a three-match ban for his sending-off in a 1-0 defeat against Gent last month, meaning the Spurs midfielder would be unavailable for half of next season’s Champions League group stage should Tottenham qualify.

Alli also lost his temper last season when he received a three match ban for punching West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob in the stomach. It meant Mauricio Pochettino was without one of his most important players in the ultimately forlorn attempt to catch Leicester.

Whilst Alli admits that he cannot afford to keep losing his cool he doesn’t want to play entirely without fight.

“There has been a lot said about me and my aggression,” he said. “But it is not something I am going to look to change.

“But I have got to keep improving and learning. Not to play with less aggression, but how I react in different situations is something I am looking to improve. I have been working on it - hopefully people can see that.

“That’s the player I am and I’ve always been like that since I was younger. It’s about getting it under control and I think I have been doing that.”

Tackles like Alli’s on Gent’s Brecht Dejaegere are likely to come under greater scrutiny in the coming months after the horrific leg break suffered by Ireland full-back Seamus Coleman after a wild challenge from Wales’ Neil Taylor in Friday’s World Cup qualifier.

​Alli said he was relieved not to have done similar damage to his opponent with a careless sliding challenge but insisted there had been no malice in his attempts to win the ball.

“It was a horrible moment for me, and something I have learned from straight away,” he said. “I felt horrible straight after the game and I’m just grateful that nothing happened to him.

“It's a shame to hear players getting injured like that. I feel sorry for Seamus and I wish him a speedy recovery. Like I say, I'm sure the guy [Taylor] didn't mean to do that. He definitely wouldn't have meant to injure the player.

“Like my tackle; I felt I was relieved that nothing bad happened to the player. I didn't go in to hurt the player, I went in for the ball but sometimes it can look a lot worse than what happened in your head.”