ERIC DIER has leapt to the defence of Dele Alli after he was slammed by two England legends.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, who both criticised Tottenham’s increasingly controversial midfielder, have both been accused of double standards.
Alli fell to the ground after contact from Patrick van Aanholt in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Crystal palace while he also dived over home keeper Wayne Hennessey.
On social media, Shearer wrote ‘a blatant dive’ while Lineker called the England star ‘Divey Alli’.
Yet Dier, defending his team-mate and close pal, said: “I’m sure they probably both dived in their careers. These things happen. Obviously, because it’s Dele, I think it probably gets more attention than it deserves.
“If you take the action in the game against Liverpool, where he got booked for diving, I was standing right behind him. When he’s running towards the ball, he’s taken a touch and it looks like the guy is about to come and take him out.
"There a sense of ‘I need to get out of the way’. If he then goes and stops, it’s difficult. That’s a difficult situation.
“I don’t think he pays any attention to it and I think that’s the most important thing. All he needs to pay attention to is how his team-mates feel and how the manager sees him and how his family see him, and the rest really is irrelevant.”
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