Thursday 31 March 2016 06:33, UK
James Milner feels England team-mate Dele Alli could become "10 times better" than he already is but wants the rest of the side to try and take some pressure off him.
Tottenham midfielder Alli has impressed in the early stages of his international career, and won his sixth cap off the bench in the 2-1 defeat by the Netherlands at Wembley on Tuesday evening.
The 19-year-old was playing in League One for the MK Dons 12 months ago, but his impact in the Premier League led to an early senior international call and there is every chance he will start England's first game at Euro 2016 against Russia on June 11.
Milner will be in the opposition when Spurs visit Liverpool on Saturday night and he feels, having seen Alli close up in England training and matches, that there is almost unlimited potential in the youngster.
"Brilliant!" was Milner's reaction when asked for a brief assessment of how Alli has performed over the international week.
"The step-up he has made this season and his form week-in, week-out and then stepping up in to England and taking those performances in.
"We want to be careful now and make sure we don't put too much on him. We know how good he can be but we have seen it time and time again. 'This player is going to be the next world-beater for us' and there is a lot of pressure there.
"We want to take it off him and let him go out there and not worry about it, worry about playing football and keep improving because he is still young.
"As good as he is at this moment he can be 10 times better and he will. He has a great attitude and will keep working hard and keep improving but we need to take that spotlight off him and let him develop and improve. We have seen how good he is and he will only get better I'm sure.
"The manager knows when to play him and is not overusing him. I think it is down to him as well, we know he has got a great head on his shoulders and he is a calm guy."
Milner feels the story of John Stones should also be heeded when talking about Alli's potential.
Stones started this season as one of the most highly-prized defenders in the Premier League, with Chelsea having a number of offers for the Everton centre-back turned down.
He has been left out by Roberto Martinez at times this season and it was his error that led to the Netherlands' winning goal at Wembley, but Milner still feels he is a big player for the future.
"If I was him I'd be taking it [criticism] as a compliment in a way," he added.
"He has played so well that he has put himself on that pedestal and people are interested in him and obviously he had the transfer thing earlier in the season.
"When you are playing well you are up there to be shot down, like we talked about Dele, and people being built up.
"You want to see players like that, everyone wants to see us playing out from the back, he is brilliant on the ball, again very young and will only get better and keep learning and another lad with a great attitude as well."
