Gareth Southgate believes Dele Alli has been wrongly cast as the man to make England exciting again and has claimed injured midfielder Adam Lallana has been his best player.

Alli is available after serving a one-match suspension and is set to start in Lithuania as England look to give the nation some cause for optimism ahead of next summer’s World Cup, following a series of drab performances.

But Southgate has claimed that Lallana, who has not played since June, is actually England’s brightest creative spark, rather than Tottenham Hotspur star Alli.

“In my year in charge, Adam Lallana has been our best player and we've not had him for the last three matches,” said England manager Southgate. “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.