Confident Alli made to wait for first Tottenham hat-trick

Dele Alli was in a confident mood after his double helped Tottenham thump Watford 4-1, but hopes his wait for a first Spurs hat-trick ends soon.

The England midfielder has five goals in his last three games after following up his double in the win over Southampton – which was also 4-1 – with another at Vicarage Road.

With the crucial upcoming clash with Chelsea on Wednesday in mind, Alli was substituted by manager Mauricio Pochettino with 30 minutes remaining on Sunday, depriving him the chance of a treble.

It was a move the 20-year-old found frustrating but understandable as Spurs celebrated a fourth straight Premier League victory.

“Yeah, definitely [understood],” he told Sky Sports when asked about his substitution.

“Obviously everyone wants to be getting goals and after the last game as well – when I got two and didn’t get my hat-trick – I was kicking myself a bit.

“I wanted to get it, but the most important thing is the result.

“It is good for my confidence. It is always nice to help the team, whether that is scoring goals or setting them up.

“It was a solid performance from us. After we got that first goal it was a pretty comfortable win in the end.

“Everyone put a good shift in and it gives us a lot of confidence going into the next game.” 

Harry Kane also scored twice and he quickly turned his attention to the match with Chelsea at White Hart Lane, where Spurs are hoping to cut their 10-point deficit to the leaders.

He said: “It is massive. We know that, everyone knows that. 

“It’s going to be a fantastic atmosphere coming to our place. We are looking forward to it. We just need to recover now and get ready for the game.

“We just need to go out there and beat Chelsea and stop their form – then hopefully they will drop a few more points.”