The 19-year-old made his England debut in 2-0 win over Estonia in October

Dons' manager Karl Robinson says Alli 'plays like every fan wants to see'

When Dele Alli was summoned to the first-team squad at MK Dons and effortlessly destroyed the long-standing running records, Karl Robinson and his coaching team realised he might be out of the ordinary.

Mauricio Pochettino was another who was instantly impressed. As was Roy Hodgson, who has resisted his instinct to send Alli back into the Under 21 squad after handing him a senior England debut.

Instead, the 19-year-old is in Spain preparing to face the European champions on Friday and taking it all in his long, elegant stride, which will come as no surprise to anyone in Milton Keynes.

Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli (left) made his England debut in the win over Estonia at Wembley last month

The 19-year-old star is hoping he will earn his third England cap in one of the two upcoming friendlies

DELE ALLI'S CAREER TO DATE Age: 19 England caps: 2 Goals: 0 Club: Tottenham Former club: MK Dons Career club apps: 104 Goals: 26 Advertisement

Alli knocked six seconds off the best time for a gruelling and notorious pre-season fitness run.

Robinson said: 'He came in at 1min 34sec and as we're all saying: "Wow, that's amazing," Dele just looked at me and said: "Watch this then, gaffer." He ran it in 1.26. I'd never seen anything like it in my life.

'He's so fit, it's ridiculous. That's his key component. When I heard he was covering 13.4km in the Premier League it didn't surprise me. He wasn't far off that here.'

At City Colts, the boys team in Milton Keynes where Alli played before joining MK Dons at the age of 11, they tell similar stories of his stamina, boosted by pedal-power on the 'red-route' network of his hometown.

They were about to kick off without their star player on one occasion, when he appeared in a cloud of dust having cycled across the city from MK Bowl, where he had competed in the local cross-country championships.

'He was always very independent,' said Andy King, then secretary of City Colts, a club with 300 players across age groups from U6 to U19.

'We can't take much credit but we're pleased for him and his family.

'A few come in like prima donnas with aggressive parents but it wasn't that way with Dele. He came here with a few mates and he was a stand-out player with natural ability, a natural athlete.'

Coach of the City Colts U11s Scorpions team was Mark Walsh, who soon moved into a role at the MK Dons academy and took three of his team — Alli, Harry Hickford and Ben Grant — with him.

Alli has hit the ground running at Spurs and was outstanding in the north London derby against Arsenal

The youngster walks off the Emirates Stadium pitch with Hugo Lloris (centre) and boss Mauricio Pochettino

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Hickford and Alli attended Radcliffe School, in Wolverton, played for City Colts and joined MK Dons, and Hickford's parents stepped in to care for Alli when his mother found it hard to cope as a single parent. Hickford, also 19, is still an MK Dons player and they are very close.

'Mark was a great role model for them all,' said King. 'He taught them how to conduct their lives, not to drink or smoke and to stay fit, as well as how to play football. He brought them on, and took them to MK Dons. Five years later and Dele was in the first team.'

Mike Dove, head of youth at MK Dons, recalls the 'scrawny kid' who arrived with an array of ball tricks, but Alli's attitude made him take note.

'He had no fear,' said Dove. 'He's technically excellent with good vision, and he's brilliant at adapting to new situations, which is why he's been comfortable stepping up to new levels.

'You might think he's shy from meeting him but he has a lot of confidence. He's never been afraid to express himself.

'We introduced sin-bins into training and the youth games, and Dele was often in it because he had an edge, a bit of petulance and cheekiness. He didn't like anyone to get the better of him.

Alli joined MK Dons at the age of 11 and made his professional debut for the club as a 16-year-old in 2012

Tottenham signed Alli for £5million in January, but loaned him back to MK Dons for the rest of the season

'But he's always been a respectful young man. When he was a second-year apprentice and had been called up to the first team I went upstairs into the training centre and Dele was signing some paper with the club teacher.

'He was wearing his baseball cap, which wasn't allowed inside, but the moment he saw me, he whipped it off. It's a tiny detail but it says he knew how to do things the right way.'

Robinson first saw him play at 14, and fast-tracked him into the first team. 'On his debut, his first touch was a back-heel and his first goal was from 30 yards,' said the MK Dons boss. 'In his first full season, he scored 16 goals with 15 assists.

'Every time a new challenge is put in front of him, he rolls up his sleeves a bit further and tries to be the best he can be. He's not fazed. You have a go at Dele, he's stone-faced. You praise Dele, he's stone-faced.

'That's how he takes his life. He strolls in and strolls out. At 17, he was in charge of the music in the first-team dressing room, he was the one messing and dancing in the middle, and playing about with a ball before the game. The senior players loved him.'

He won Football League Young Player of the Year and helped MK Dons win promotion to Championship

MK Dons manager Karl Robinson realised Alli might be out of the ordinary when he trained with the first-team

Alli competes for the ball with Chesterfield midfielder Sam Morsy during a League One clash last season

Robinson was practising corners before one game, and Alli was detailed to make a near-post run and touch the ball on with his head. When it came in too low, the teenager sprang into the air and flicked the ball into the net with a back-heel.

As his team-mates looked on, he spat out his chewing gum, juggled it from knee-to-knee and foot-to-foot before kicking it into the air, catching it in his mouth and smiling.

'There's no arrogance in him,' said Robinson. 'We had our debates. We've dealt with him strictly at times because discipline is important but he took everything on board. It's a good sign.

'He's grounded, and he plays football like every fan wants to see. He covers every blade of grass. He tackles, he scores goals. He is the modern-day all-action footballer.'

Tottenham signed Alli for £5million in January, but loaned him back to MK Dons for the rest of the season. He won the Football League Young Player of the Year award in May as they were promoted to the Championship for the first time.

Mauricio Pochettino was another who was instantly impressed and put him straight into the Spurs midfield

The former MK Dons midfield masetro has also impressed in the Europa League for Tottenham this season

Pochettino put him straight into the Spurs midfield, and he won his first England cap as a substitute against Estonia. On Sunday, he was outstanding in the north London derby against Arsenal.

Such a rise will be keenly felt by Liverpool, one of those who had tracked his progress closely and were very close to signing him in the summer of 2014. They hesitated, he stayed in League One and Tottenham pounced six months later.

'A lot of big teams missed out,' said Robinson. 'Three teams said he wasn't good enough, only 12 months ago. They were saying he's only done it in League One, but that's where Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did it and Dele's record was better than all of them.

'League One is a tremendous breeding ground for young talent. If the Premier League clubs were brave enough to give chances to the young people they'd reap the rewards.

Robinson revealed 'a lot of big teams missed out' on midfielder before he joined Premier League club Spurs

'We always said there would be a day when Dele outgrew our club, when the training and the games were not challenging him any more. Last Christmas, we had a serious conversation in a hotel in Crewe when we agreed it was almost time.'

Alli is the sparkling jewel of the MK Dons development system, but there are others like Brendan Galloway in the first team at Everton, Sheyi Ojo at Liverpool and George Williams, who moved to Fulham and played for Wales, before a bad knee injury.

'He's the first MK Dons player to be capped by England and that's remarkable for us as a club,' said chairman Pete Winkelman. 'Ultimately it's down to Dele. He has star quality and presence, and he could be a generationally important player for England.'