Southgate tags Lallana, not Alli as England's creative linchpin

England manager Gareth Southgate has been without a number of key figures in this latest round of World Cup qualifying fixtures, but it is Adam Lallana who he believes the Three Lions have missed the most.

Lallana is one of a number of midfield creative-types available to Southgate - at least on paper - and barring injuries or suspensions, it is the Liverpool man who is best suited to pull the strings for England, and not Tottenham star Dele Alli.

The 21-year-old Alli served a one-match suspension in a drab showing against Slovenia, punishment he received for giving a middle finger salute during an earlier match against Slovakia. Meanwhile, Lallana hasn't played since June, when he picked up a thigh strain against Atletico Madrid in pre-season.

While Alli is set to return to action for England's final World Cup qualifying tilt against Lithuania, Southgate is tempering expectations that he will add much-needed creativity from midfield, a spark he expects Lallana to deliver instead.

"In my year in charge, Adam Lallana has been our best player and we've not had him for the last three matches," Southgate said, as quoted by The Telegraph. "There are some players who can unlock defences and score goals."

"Dele is an interesting player. If you analyse his game closely he's a scorer of goals and he's not necessarily the link player Adam is.

"So, perceptions of players and their actual particular skill sets and areas where they are effective is not what's commonly perceived. I go to games and I look at one person and how he plays, so you see the different attributes.

"Dele's biggest strengths are arriving in the box, timing his runs, finishing and scoring goals. If he can add consistency into his touch and creativity of pass into that, he'll be a better player than he already is."