Dele Alli is fearful of losing his starting berth for England at the 2018 World Cup with Jesse Lingard set to start ahead of the Tottenham midfielder for a second game running, claims The Daily Mirror.
Alli performed poorly after coming on as a second half substitute against the Netherlands on Friday night but was expected to start against Italy.
However, it has now emerged that the 21-year-old will stay on the bench at Wembley as Gareth Southgate wants to build a team around Friday’s impressive showing.
Lingard scored the winner in England’s 1-0 win over the Netherlands before being replaced by Alli with 22 minutes of normal time remaining.
Alli only completed 69% of his passes during his late cameo and failed to make a tackle, complete an interception or dribble and attempt at shot at goal.
Southgate is understood to have chatted privately to Alli after Monday’s training session and now there is a chance Lingard could pull further clear in the pecking order.
The Manchester United attacking midfielder has been in great form since the end of November, scoring 11 goals in his last 23 matches for club and country.
England's meeting with Italy is their last friendly before the World Cup warm-up matches at the end of the season.
