Mourinho drops Tottenham team selection hint ahead of Leyton Orient cup clash

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Jose Mourinho has suggested to Football London that Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli will be back in his side’s team on Tuesday evening.

Tottenham are due to take on Leyton Orient in the League Cup, and Mourinho may well rotate his side.

Spurs’s first choice players have had a busy week, after first winning in Bulgaria and then beating Southampton on Sunday.

Alli was left out of Tottenham’s squad entirely on both those occasions, sparking rumours that he could leave.

But Mourinho suggests that the England international will be given another chance to prove his worth in midweek.

“I’m not responsible for the market. I’m not able to answer your question on that,” Mourinho said, when asked about Alli’s absence.

“I can only say I left eight players behind training. They are a big group and Dele was among this group. The same way a squad is a puzzle and in the same way so is the bench. I cannot have three wingers and a number 10 and then no defender. Dele stayed out but probably Tuesday he will play.”

Alli seems to have been punished for his performance against Everton on opening day, when he was hooked off at half-time.

Whether Mourinho’s latest omissions are to try and spark Alli into life, or whether he has actually lost faith in the 24-year-old now remains to be seen.

Alli does seem to have a long way to go if he is to break back into the Tottenham side though.

The goalscoring midfielder has slipped right down the pecking order, and the pressure will be on him to impress against Orient on Tuesday if he does play.