Dele Alli says he was surprised at the reaction to his emotional interview last year as forgotten Everton man gives update on his injury nightmare and reveals how it has helped him grow as a person

Dele Alli has given an update on his fitness and discussed the reaction to his emotional interview with Gary Neville last year.

The Everton midfielder made his expert debut for Sky Sports as part of the broadcaster’s Monday Night Football coverage of his side’s visit to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea.

Alli is yet to feature for Sean Dyche’s side this season as the Toffees continue to battle against relegation.

When asked about his continued recovery from injury, Alli revealed that he is improving but is still unable to play.

“I’m doing really well,” Alli said. “Like you said, it’s clearly been almost a year. But I feel good. Obviously injured, which is disappointing. But yeah, I’m doing fine.’

The Everton midfielder also described the ‘amazing’ support he received while on the sidelines

Alli’s appearance marked his first media appearance since an emotional interview with Neville on The Overlap last year, where he opened up about a series of traumatic experiences he endured during his childhood and revealed he had spent time in rehab due to a addiction to sleeping pills.

The revelations were met with an outpouring of support from across the football world, with the former Tottenham star adding that it was ‘amazing’ to see how many people he had helped.

“I think when I said when I was doing that, when I did the interview, I said I had to help one person, that’s it,” he continued.

‘Obviously I had to do it for my own reasons. But to help one person, that’s all I wanted from it, and the response I got and the support, you know, it was absolutely overwhelming.”

‘But it was great to see how many people it helped. And yes, I am certainly very proud of it.’

After falling out of favor at Tottenham, Alli joined Everton in 2022 during Frank Lampard’s time at the club.

He made 11 appearances in his first season at Goodison Park, but injuries have since limited further involvement on the pitch, apart from a short loan spell at Besiktas last season.

The 28-year-old has had to watch Everton’s struggles from the sidelines this season, with his last competitive appearance coming almost 14 months ago in his last match in the Turkish top flight.

Although he described not being able to play his part in the relegation battle as ‘harsh’, Alli revealed that he feels there is light at the end of the tunnel and he will soon be able to resume his career.

Monday’s Sky Sports broadcast marked his first media appearance since his powerful interview with Gary Neville

Alli joined from Tottenham in 2022 but injuries have limited his involvement at Goodison Park

‘[The injury] is something I learned a lot from, and it helped me grow even more as a person, which I will forever be grateful for. Because I’m not grateful that I’m hurt, but that I have this opportunity, and really get to know myself and love myself.

“I think the pain from the injury is something I can really channel when I get back and it can help keep me motivated into something I can learn from, so this is just an injury issue going on.

‘Yes, I see the light at the end. I’m excited. Yes, I think if you had asked me before, injuries would be at the top of my list of one of the things that are mentally the hardest to overcome. And before this, my longest injury lasted eight weeks, which felt like forever.”