Dele Alli: Playing Against Idol Jason Puncheon 'Will Be Weird'

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli says it "will be weird" to go up against former hero Jason Puncheon when his side face Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

The pair were at MK Dons together when Alli was an up-and-coming youngster and Puncheon was starring for the first team. 

The Spurs star used to watch him play after training, but didn't go as far to clean the Crystal Palace forward's boots.

"At MK, when I was cleaning boots and stuff, we always used to speak about how good he was," Alli told the ​Daily Express.

"He was really exciting to watch and he is showing how good he is now in the Premier League. I didn't clean his boots though, I got put on the gaffer's.

“Playing against him will be a bit weird, but I am looking forward to the challenge if I get picked.”

Yannick Bolasie will also go up against the side he looked set for a move to in the summer and Palace manager Alan Pardew insists he would not have been bullied into selling the winger.

"I think the security of the Premier League finances means it's now more difficult for clubs to come and take players from Stoke, from us, from West Brom," he said.

"We can ask for what we think is a legitimate price and stick to it, because we are strong enough to cope with that.

"But you still need a good attitude from the player and I have to say that Yala and obviously he lost his father recently, has had a tremendous appetite to play for this football club through all of that speculation."