Eric Dier 'upset' he couldn't help close friend Dele Alli conquer his demons during their time at Tottenham after childhood abuse confession

Eric Dier could not hold back the tears as he spoke of his anguish and regret that he had been unable to help his dear friend Dele Alli conquer his demons during their time together at Tottenham.

Alli recently completed six weeks of rehab in the United States as he tackled an addiction to sleeping pills and mental health issues relating to abuse in his childhood, details of which he revealed for the first time on his return to England this month.

'I'm upset with myself and disappointed with myself that I didn't do more,' said Spurs defender Dier, as he reflected on his friend's revelations. 'I was with him just a week before, when he was at my wedding.

'When he was in rehab - and I knew he was in rehab - I spoke to him a few times and messaged him, because I was having my wedding. I said to him, "I don't know if you're going to make it", because obviously I knew what he was going through.

'And the first thing was that he was insulted that I'd asked him if he was going to be there. It was like it was unimaginable that he wasn't going to be there even though everything he was going through. That's the type of person he is, you know. Dele has a heart of gold, he really does.'

Alli arrived at Tottenham from Milton Keynes Dons in the summer of 2015, one year after Dier joined from Sporting Lisbon.

Alli was 19 and Dier 21 when they met. They had very different upbringings but struck an instant friendship and, for a time, their careers unfolded in parallel. One solid, versatile and dependable at the back. The other, quick and elusive, influencing games at the other end with goals of all sorts.

They were integral as Mauricio Pochettino created an exciting young Spurs team. When Dier won his first England cap, it was as a sub, coming