Dele Alli facing key Everton spell as transfer question looms for Frank Lampard

International breaks spent with his club are nothing new for Dele Alli these days.

At one point in his career, the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder looked as though he would be a foundation piece for the Three Lions for years to come. Instead, with form dwindled and his stock fallen, it's now over three years since he represented his country.

Nevertheless, you sense there would have been a little more for Alli to ponder over in this break compared to recent ones. After all, he's at a new club, is on the brink of a relegation tussle and is already seemingly facing up to a crucial period with Everton.

There was a lot of excitement among the Goodison Park faithful when Alli arrived in January - the prospect of a once fine goalscoring midfielder working under one of the all-time great goalscoring midfielders in Frank Lampard tantalising.

Alli was a faded star for sure and L4 hasn't been an environment for such talents to have their dulled sparkle rebuffed. But the sight of Alli and Lampard greeting one another and the latter's "we did it" remark was enough to trigger hope that this could be a beautiful relationship. As of yet, it has not really got off the ground.

Alli will have been an Everton player for over two months by the time the team next plays and as of yet he hasn't started a Premier League fixture. He's made six substitute appearances totalling 170 minutes, with one of those an early introduction in the away clash with Newcastle United.

There have been times when Lampard may have turned to Alli, although injury problems and red cards have prevented him from being able to accommodate the attacking midfielder. The fact he has been cup-tied for Everton's FA Cup fixtures has not been helpful either.

So far, it