Dele Alli can play false nine like Lionel Messi, says Mauricio Pochettino

Dele Alli has scored 52 goals for Tottenham since he joined in 2015

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino faces a forward selection dilemma on Sunday against Fulham, but has said he could use Dele Alli in a false nine role.

Harry Kane is set to be out for a month with ankle ligament damage and Heung-Min Son is currently at the Asian Cup.

That leaves Fernando Llorente as his only senior striker after ruling out a return for Vincent Janssen.

However, Pochettino revealed he may have other plans for his attacking options and has taken inspiration from Lionel Messi.

"Yesterday I was watching Barcelona [against Levante] and the striker was Leo Messi," said Pochettino.

"You can play Llorente, you can play Dele Alli, you can play Erik Lamela, you can play [youngsters] Kazaiah Sterling, Troy Parrott, I don't know.

"You can play many, many players. It's not that you have to play one specific striker.

Lionel Messi has scored 24 goals for Barcelona this season

"Look, Chelsea played against us with [Eden] Hazard like a striker, when [Olivier] Giroud was on the bench and [Alvaro] Morata was out of the squad.

"We are so crazy, the managers that sometimes we decide to do something different, no?"

Tottenham play Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.