Wednesday 4 October 2017 15:54, UK
England manager Gareth Southgate says Dele Alli's one-match ban was "fair" and he thinks the player will learn from the experience.
The Tottenham midfielder will have to sit out Thursday's World Cup Qualifier at home to Slovenia as punishment for making an offensive gesture during the win over Slovakia.
Alli was caught on camera making a middle-finger gesture, which he later claimed was directed at team-mate Kyle Walker rather than the referee.
FIFA apparently accepted his claim, settling on a one-match ban and a £3,850 fine for a gesture which it deemed "offensive and unsporting".
Asked if he thought the verdict was reasonable, Southgate said: "It was quite a unique circumstance.
"I think it is probably a fair outcome
"I have discussed it with Dele throughout, so he recognises his responsibilities and how things will be viewed, and how his world is changing in terms of the attention on him and the spotlight on him.
"He won't do it again, that's for sure. It's an experience he will have learned from."
Asked if he would be discussing the matter further with the 21-year-old, Southgate implied that a line had been drawn under the matter.
"We have had good conversations about loads of different things," he said.
"So now my focus is on him being ready for the game on Sunday [against Lithuania] and making sure he is aware of how we are playing and all the things we are trying to do with the team.
"He is a player we enjoy working with.
"The things he does on the pitch, in terms of his creativity and the way he plays, are a result of his character and therefore, with that character, sometimes you do these things immediately and think about them after.
"All these experiences will make him better as he goes forward."
Southgate also stood by comments he made last week in which he said that, due to the enforced absence of some first-choice players, "there are one or two in the squad who haven't necessarily warranted it on their performances".
Asked if he had needed to explain the comments to any of his players, Southgate said: "Not really, I think they know what we are trying to do, they know what we are trying to head towards.
"My job is not to keep them happy, my job is to challenge them and to create an environment which allows them to become successful.
"We need everybody fighting for a place, because that raises the performance level.
"If we get the results we want, heading towards next summer, I hope to have the dilemma of picking 23 [for the World Cup] so, if that is 23 from 38, which we are possibly looking at, there are going to be some difficult calls to make.
"Managers don't necessarily select teams, players do, because of the way they are playing and the form they are in."
