Eric Dier had a ‘tough day’ against Bournemouth according to BBC pundit Jermaine Jenas and was lucky to stay on the pitch and not concede a penalty.
However, he said it was down to the fact that Dier, 25, hasn’t played much recently, through a combination of injuries and illness.
Tottenham were beaten 1-0 in a shocking display against Bournemouth that saw them go down to nine men early in the second-half.
Before Son Heung-min and Juan Foyth were sent off, Dier should have got his marching orders but got lucky to stay on the pitch.
That almost came back to haunt Spurs as he brought Callum Wilson down in the box, but no penalty was given.
Dier was taken off at half-time but to no avail for Tottenham and they will now have to win their last game of the season against Everton to confirm a top-four spot.
Talking on Match of the Day (BBC1, Saturday, 10.30pm), Jenas said lack of game time this season showed in Dier’s performance.
“It definitely showed in his performance today,” Jenas said, “but some of the decisions he made, going to ground… there’s no need to go to ground and I suppose it shows that lack of game time that’s he had.
“A lot of things he did were really clumsy, it’s what you’re like when you haven’t played for a while.
“This one I think was a penalty, he gets it completely wrong, he has no idea where Callum Wilson is and takes him out completely. It was a tough day for him.”