Stuttering Spurs look for Kane inspiration

Tottenham host Swansea on Saturday hoping Harry Kane can celebrate signing a new contract by continuing his hot scoring streak and helping them get their season firing again. The England forward sealed an improved deal that ties him to the Londoners until 2022 — a timely boost for a club in a bad patch on the pitch. They go into the Swansea game having lost their last two matches, firstly at Monaco in the Champions League, a result that meant they cannot qualify for the next stage, and then at London rivals Chelsea in the Premier League. That ended Tottenham’s unbeaten start to the league campaign, an achievement which had been all the more impressive since Kane was sidelined by an ankle injury in September.

But with four goals in the four games since he returned to fitness, there is no doubting that Kane will be the man to watch at White Hart Lane once again. Tottenham will kick off in fifth, seven points adrift of leaders Chelsea, but Kane is confident of making up that ground.

“The form of the last couple of months hasn’t been where we want it to be because we’ve set such high standards,” the 23-year-old said. “But it isn’t the time to panic or be worried. The performance against Chelsea was very good, even though we didn’t win, which was disappointing. “We’re in a good place. We’re not far off the top and we’ve a very long way to go this season.”

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is understandably delighted to see Kane make a long-term commitment to the club. And the Argentine is confident Spurs can get back to the form that saw them defeat then-leaders Manchester City in early October. “Against Chelsea we lost but we recovered the feeling that we can play well,” Pochettino said. “This week has been perfect because we could spend time together and train hard. We held a lot of meetings and the answer from the players was fantastic. “We need to deliver Saturday and do a great job to try and get the three points.”