Football
Dan Kilpatrick, Tottenham Correspondent 7y

Tottenham's Dele Alli to serve three-match European ban for red card

Tottenham's Dele Alli has been banned for three European matches by UEFA for his red card in Tottenham's 2-2 draw against Gent last month.

Alli received a straight red card, the first of his career, for a dangerous high tackle on Gent's Brecht Dejaegere in the first half at Wembley, as Spurs' exited the Europa League in the round-of-32, having lost 1-0 in Belgium in the first leg.

The 20-year-old apologised to Dejaegere afterwards but, having assessed referee Jorge Sousa's match report, UEFA has decided to hand the midfielder a ban near the top end of the five-match suspension scale.

The England international, who has scored 17 goals in all competitions this season, will therefore miss half of Tottenham's Champions League or Europa League group games next term, should they qualify.

Spurs are currently second in the table, seven points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United having played a game more.

Alli has responded superbly to the sending off, scoring in each of Spurs' four matches since, and after the 2-1 victory over Southampton on Sunday he said: "I think I've definitely calmed down a bit but it's important -- I'm never going to take that out of my game.

"I'm never going to say sorry for wanting to win or trying as hard as I can but things happen and you have to learn from them. I always want to win.

"[Tottenham manager] Mauricio [Pochettino] knows that's who I am. He knows I'm not going to change no matter what. We've had a few talks and he's been very supportive so it's nice to have a manager that backs you like he does. I'm still young, I'm 20 years old, there will always be lots of up and downs in football that's the way it is. But when things don't go my way I've just got to try to learn from them and keep improving.

"There are so many things to learn from this season for me. Everyone makes mistakes it's important I bounced back. I felt horrible after that, but it was important I put it behind me and learned from it."

Meanwhile, Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen is sick and has been left out of the Netherlands squad travelling to Bulgaria for a World Cup qualifier.

Coach Danny Blind has not called up a replacement for Janssen. Blind is leaving on Friday for Sofia with a 24-player squad for Saturday's match.

Netherlands are second in Europe's Group A, behind France and level on points with Sweden. Only the top team automatically qualifies for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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