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Dele Alli fit to return and confident England can beat Colombia

Dele Alli The Observer

Dele Alli fit to return and confident England can beat Colombia

• Midfielder set to start in same lineup that defeated Tunisia
• ‘As a team we’re not scared of anyone’
Dele Alli
Dele Alli is likely to start against Colombia. Photograph: Dave Shopland/BPI/Rex/Shutterstock

Dele Alli has declared himself fit and ready to resume his World Cup campaign, with the midfielder convinced England can force passage beyond Colombia and into the latter stages of the tournament.

The Tottenham player suffered a thigh strain late in the first half of the victory over Tunisia in Volgograd at the start of the group stage but insisted on remaining on the field until 10 minutes from time. He missed the remaining two games in the section but has trained fully in Zelenogorsk since last week and will return to the starting lineup in Moscow on Tuesday, when Gareth Southgate is likely to field the side that started against Tunisia.

“I was frustrated after the injury but I’ve been doing a lot of work to make sure I’m back so I can make a contribution to the team,” Alli said. “I’m glad [the manager] kept me on. I had a similar injury when we played Real Madrid and I went on and scored twice, so if I had scored against Tunisia then maybe people would think differently. I felt like I could run it off and I told the manager and the physios I was OK.

“It’s been difficult watching the team play well because you always want to be out there and a part of it, helping them. So I’m looking forward to being a part of it again.”

Alli was one of 21 players put through their paces at Spartak Zelenogorsk on Saturday, with Fabian Delph back in England to attend the birth of his third child and Ruben Loftus-Cheek undertaking his own work in the gym. He is not thought to be an injury doubt for the game in Moscow but is likely to start on the bench.

Alli

Confidence has apparently not been affected by Thursday’s loss to Belgium, when Southgate made eight changes, with Alli’s belief unwavering that England can win the tournament. “We’ve come here with the mentality that we want to win it, and that we’re going to win it,” he said.

“We’ve been playing very well, there have been a lot of positives, but there are still things to work on and we know that as players.

“We have to focus on the next game, we can’t think about how well we’ve played in previous matches or how well we are doing. We have to be positive but we can’t get carried away and let our feet get off the floor. But we’re confident we can beat anyone.

“I was dreaming about winning the World Cup before I was here, so it’s hard not to. But if we are looking to perform as well as we can, we can’t afford to look towards the other games and what might happen if we win [on Tuesday].

“This is a new team, new players, new manager, and we’ve come here with the mentality that we’re going to win it. That’s important. As a team we’re not scared of anyone. Whatever team you put in front of us, we’re not going to hide. We’ll go out there be confident in ourselves, play the way we want to play and hopefully win the game.”

The Football Association has confirmed England are to play Switzerland – potential quarter-final opponents in Russia – in a friendly on 11 September at Leicester’s King Power Stadium. England will begin their Nations League campaign with a game against Spain at Wembley three days earlier.

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