Dele Alli insisted he had no hard feelings towards Raheem Sterling after the winger’s late tackle on him in Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday.

Alli will be assessed on Monday after turning his ankle when he was caught on the shin by Sterling’s studs-up challenge during the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Sterling was booked by referee Mike Dean and the VAR decided against upgrading the decision to a red card on review — to the consternation of Spurs boss Jose Mourinho.

Alli was able to play on until the 70th minute before being replaced in between goals by Steven Bergwijn and Heung-min Son, as Spurs earned a first landmark win under Mourinho against the 10-man champions.

Alli said: “We were speaking about it at half-time and we are good friends. I know what sort of player Raheem is and he would never intentionally try to hurt someone. There are no hard feelings, he is a fantastic player and we move on.

“We were chatting afterwards [too], he was not in the best of moods — he is a winner, so it was difficult. We haven’t seen each other for a while so it was nice to have a catch up.

“I am not sure [if it deserved a red card] to be honest, I have not had a proper look back at it. It is obviously for the referee and VAR to make the decision.

“They didn’t give the red card. It is football and those things happen, so I know it was nothing intentional. He is not a player like that, so I understand.

“I was a bit sore in the game, we made a decision in the game to change and hopefully it is not too bad.”

Mourinho claimed Sterling deserved a definite red card but refused to blame Dean, saying: “VAR is the problem.”

The VAR also belatedly awarded City a first-half penalty after Serge Aurier’s foul on Sergio Aguero but denied the visitors a second spot-kick when

Hugo Lloris appeared to catch Sterling immediately after saving Ilkay Gundogan’s effort from the spot.

Spurs continued to ride their luck and eventually had City’s profligacy, Oleksandr Zinchenko’s sending-off on the hour and the brilliance of debutant Bergwijn to thank for victory.

Alli says the players are beginning to get to grips with the coach’s demands. “We changed tactics [under Mourinho] but it takes time to work,” he said.

“He is a very tactical manager, so you have to work a lot in training.

“We can take a lot of positives from taking three points off a tough team. We are going to keep working on different tactics and a ­different style. We have to keep adapting.

“We have had a lot of great years together [under Mauricio Pochettino] with a lot of ups and downs. We are on a track that is different but are getting results and improving on the new style of play and the different tactics.”