Dele Alli insists he wants to take a leadership role at Tottenham after wearing the captain’s armband during his side’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Watford.
He was handed the captaincy as Spurs took on the Hornets in Milton Keynes, in a game that was initially slated to be played at the club’s new stadium.
He scored a penalty in normal time, cancelling out Isaac Success’ opener, before Erik Lamela gave Spurs the lead. Etienne Capoue then took the game to penalties, where the England international scored the winning kick.
The 22-year-old grew up in Milton Keynes and found his footing as a player at MK Dons, and the midfielder was thrilled to be given the armband by Mauricio Pochettino on his return to his hometown.
Speaking about the captaincy Dele said, “It was good, it was a little bit too big for me but it was a massive honour, i spoke to the gaffer yesterday and he asked me if I wanted to be [captain] and it was a real privilege.I think it’s important when we’re out on the pitch that we know we need to have 11 leaders out there, but it was a huge honour.”
When asked if he would like to captain the side more in future games, he added: “If you asked the boys about my speech before they might disagree, but I think I want to be a leader out there anyway and whether I’ve got the armband or not it’s important that that is my mentality.”