Former England midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast that Dele Alli is a “tremendous” talent but has urged the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder to work on the defensive side of his game.

Alli has struggled for minutes this season and is currently exiled under manager Jose Mourinho.

Prior to the clash with Fulham on Thursday, Alli had played just 137 minutes of Premier League football, with one start, though his second came at Craven Cottage.

He did issue a stark reminder of his talent last week, however, as he scored a brilliant overhead kick in the Europa League clash with Wolfsberger, while also laying on two assists in that game, while his flick also led to the only goal against the Cottagers.

Palmer can understand why Jose Mourinho is not picking the 24-year-old, telling FFC that one cannot pick “luxury” players.

But he believes that he has the talent required to rescue his Spurs career.

He said: “Well, I'm a big fan of Dele Alli’s. I think he's a tremendous talent, I really do but when somebody plays a certain way…

"I do believe that Dele Alli has to concentrate on the other side of the game; if you're going to be a top, top side, if you're going to be a top international side and you're going to win trophies you can't have a midfield player who's a luxury, and if that midfield player’s a luxury he's got to be delivering game after game after game after game.

“You can't have that and that's what Mourinho’s said. So if Dele Alli can do the other side of the game then of course he’d be in, not just Tottenham’s side but in most Premier League sides.”

Palmer believes that Alli has an immense amount of goalscoring talent, and thinks that his return to the side could well coincide with an upturn in Spurs’ form.

He added: “He's a very talented boy and he knows where the onion bag is. Tottenham have struggled recently, they just picked up that win against Burnley and hopefully they can kick on again now.

“But, for sure, Dele Alli is a top, top player who's lost his way a little bit. And if he can get back to anywhere near his previous form, I'm sure he’d be a regular for Spurs but against the top sides, you will get punished, if you don't have your midfield players tracking back or filling areas or doing the jobs that they need to do, you will get punished for that.”