James Maddison has fired back at criticism sent his way calling it 'very cheap' having been the target of some stern words from Manchester United legend Roy Keane. The former United midfielder has mimicked the Spurs' midfielder's darts celebration in recent weeks and criticised his performances.
The Irishman had previously questioned Maddison's impact during an episode of The Overlap, remarking: "We saw Maddison at Tamworth [in. the FA Cup third round], he was taken off.
"Tamworth are non league. People say Maddison's the man. When is he going to step up to the plate? He got relegated with Leicester and he'll get relegated with Spurs."
On Maddison's visit to Alexandra Palace to watch the PDC World Darts Championship, Keane added: "Maddison isn't bad, when he's not at the darts. But let me tell you, if you think he's going to come back and get Spurs into the top six, you're in cuckoo land. He's good, he's a talented player.
"But if you're a player in the Spurs dressing room and Maddison's back in the squad, you wouldn't be looking and going, 'Oh Jesus - he's back today. We're going to be fine.' England have a squad of 300 and he can't even get in that. You kid yourselves everybody."
In a fresh interview with Sky Sports Premier League, Maddison was coy in his response, not directly mentioning Keane by name and said he was fine with criticism being aimed at him but labelled it cheap.
"Yeah, that's okay," Maddison said when asked if he got talked about too much. "I'd rather that than them talk about Archie [Gray] or Lucas [Bergvall]. I don't mind taking the heat a little bit.
"I'm big enough and ugly enough now to take the hits and criticism because I know what I'm capable of, I know what I can do. I know my personal level.
"What people don't see is what we do behind the scenes. How much we're trying to improve and how much we work. It's very cheap to go and sit and talk and criticise.
"Training today the standard was unbelievable. The lads were working really hard because we drew at home to Bournemouth. The lads are not happy.
"People don't see it hurts us as well. We're not doing well in the league but I actually feel pretty good. I feel pretty sharp. I'm really looking forward to Thursday and beyond to try and finish the season special as a team.
"Finish the season strong personally. I can still have a really good season in terms of goals and assists. Trying to look for the positives and spread that through the dressing room rather than focus on the doom and gloom like the league position."