LONDON -- Eric Dier told Dele Alli to keep ignoring "irrelevant" opinions after Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer accused the Tottenham Hotspur attacker of another dive against Crystal Palace.
Alli has been under intense scrutiny since he was booked for diving at Liverpool earlier this month -- his third yellow card for simulation since he joined Spurs in summer 2015.
Writing on Twitter, former England strikers Lineker and Shearer both accused the 21-year-old of diving again when he tumbled over goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey in Spurs' 1-0 win at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
A blatant dive. https://t.co/AUN3gLBMWj
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) February 25, 2018
But Dier, Alli's closest friend at Spurs, said: "I'm sure they both dived in their careers. These things happen. Obviously, because it's Dele, I think it gets more attention than it deserves. It's difficult sometimes: if you take the action in the game against Liverpool, where he got booked for diving, I was standing right behind him.
"When he's running towards the ball, he's taken a touch and it looks like the guy is about to come and take him out. There a sense of, 'I need to get out of the way.' If the opponent then goes and stops, it's a difficult situation.
Dier said he understands that Lineker and Shearer are free to express their thoughts but cautioned that Alli should not worry about what they say.
"One of the beautiful things about football is everyone has an opinion, but it doesn't mean everyone's opinion is right," Dier said. "It's difficult because nowadays with Twitter and Instagram and every other social media outlet, and the internet, everyone has an opinion and you have to sift through it to find the right one.
"That's why every footballer, myself included, just needs to focus on the people that matter to us -- the manager, our teammates and our family. I don't think what anyone else says should really bother us.
"That's the great thing about Dele. I don't think he pays any attention to it and I think that's the most important thing. All he needs to pay attention to is how his teammates feel and how the manager sees him and how his family see him. The rest really is irrelevant."
Before the incident with Hennessey, Alli went to ground under a challenge from Palace left-back Patrick van Aanholt, who confronted him after the game only for goalscorer Harry Kane to usher away his teammate.
Kane played down the altercation, which came as Alli was booed off the pitch by the Palace fans, and said he trusted referees not to let his teammate's reputation for diving impact their judgement.
"It was a heated game," said Kane, who scored an 88th-minute header for his 150th goal in club football. "Dele wanted a penalty on one of the fouls and it wasn't given, and they squared up. It's football. There's nothing malicious or anything like that.
"It's hard when people watch football and they don't really understand. Sometimes players dive but sometimes you can't get out of the way, and if someone makes a challenge why should you jump out of the way? It's their own fault."
Kane said the best thing for Alli to do is to trust the referees to make the correct calls.
"When you get a reputation and when it's happened a couple of times, the fans get on your back, but the ref's there to make a call on the day and you've just got to go with what he says," Kane said.
"Sometimes you do get a reputation but then that's when we've got to trust the refs. They can't let that affect them, and I don't think they do. They've got to see what they see on the day and make a decision from that. The fans might jeer or boo every time it happens but it's down to the ref to do his job and that's all we can count on."