DELE ALLI has denied he swore at referee Clement Turpin during England's 2-1 win over Slovakia, claiming it was a joke with former team-mate Kyle Walker.
The Spurs midfielder appeared to stick his middle finger up in the direction of the match official in the 77th minute at Wembley in the victory.
He took to social media to clarify the issue, he tweeted: "Just to clarify, the gesture tonight was a joke between me and my good friend Kyle Walker!
"Apologies for any offence caused! Great win 2nite (sic)."
England boss Gareth Southgate said in his post-match press conference that the 21-year-old was "communicating" with his former Tottenham team-mate.
In his post-match press conference, he said: "Dele and Kyle Walker were messing about and Dele made gesture towards Kyle.
"They have strange way of communicating!”
The incident took place in the closing stages of the match after the 21-year-old was denied a free-kick following a challenge from Martin Skrtel.
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Speaking immediately after the match, Southgate admitted: “You've only just told me just before we started.
"I've not seen it but obviously we'll look at it over the next couple of days."
Ex-England striker Ian Wright said: “You don’t want him to do that in a tournament.
"He will be thinking: ‘What did I do?’"
Alli tweeted initially immediately after the match without mentioning the issue.
He simply stated: "Big 3 points!!"
However he has now strenuously denied swearing at the referee behind his back.
Goals from Marcus Rashford and Eric Dier earned the Three Lions a vital three points after they fell behind in the third minute.
England sit top of Group F as they edge closer to securing their spot at the 2018 World Cup.