Atletico Madrid fullback Kieran Trippier has taken aim at former club Tottenham.

Spurs sold England full back Trippier to Atletico in a shock £20million deal last summer.

Trippier was disappointed that chairman Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino, the club's boss at the time, showed him the door at White Hart Lane after a poor season following his heroics with England at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

But the 29-year-old defender has lifted the lid on his final campaign at Spurs and blamed THEM for his poor form - because he was pressured to hold off on a groin operation last season.

He said: “I certainly feel I am a better player than I was last season at Tottenham. Last season was a difficult moment because I was struggling with injuries.

“It is not an excuse because I was not hiding about it.

“But I struggled for months with my groin and pelvis and I eventually had surgery just after the winter break in Spain in January.

“Because of the timing of the break and the operation I was only out for a few weeks and now I feel so much better.

“I should have had it last season at Spurs but people didn't want me to have it then. I had so many issues with the last season there and about the way I performed and struggled with injuries.

“It got to a point where I had to have surgery this season and really I should have had it done last season.

“But there were so many important games... I don't really want to go into it."