England manager Sam Allardyce drops Dele Alli for World Cup qualifier against Slovakia

England manager Sam Allardyce has dropped Dele Alli for his first match in charge of the Three Lions. The newly-appointed boss has opted to omit the talented 20-year-old for England's opening World Cup qualifier against Slovakia in Trnava.

Alli started three of England's four matches at Euro 2016 under Allardyce's predecessor Roy Hodgson, but is one of three changes from the starting XI for Hodgson's final match in charge against Iceland. John Stones, Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana have all been selected in favour of Chris Smalling, Alli and Daniel Sturridge.

However, Alli's Tottenham Hotspur teammate Harry Kane has been selected by Allardyce, despite his modest start of the new campaign.

Kane was another player who underperformed for England during the summer tournament but has been chosen in the team, with Wayne Rooney Lallana and Sterling operating behind him in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The Tottenham striker has not scored in his past eight appearances for club and country, but Allardyce has backed Kane to come good for England.

"We wouldn't expect Harry to be dry for too much longer," Allardyce said of the Tottenham star earlier this week. "It's minutes and goals, isn't it? Confidence grows. There is one thing you always need to know: how many goalscorers have you got on the field and how many you can maybe bring on who can make an impact."