‘We’ll miss him but it’s not worth risk’
to make everyone happy. And then when something happens, who suffers? The player, the team and in the end, us. Because we’re now going to miss one of our best players.”
Tottenham will be banking on Spanish striker Fernando Llorente, right, stepping out of Kane’s shadow after Pochettino’s worst fears over the striker’s fitness were confirmed.
Kane, who has scored 15 goals in his last 11 games for club and country, will miss today’s game at Old Trafford after failing to recover from the strain sustained late in last Sunday’s 4-1 Wembley win over Liverpool.
It is a big blow to Spurs as they try to keep in touch with leaders Manchester City, who are five points clear of both rivals United and Pochettino’s side.
Kane now faces a fight to be fit for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid. “We are lucky it’s not a big problem and it’s a small issue,” said Pochettino. “It’s a decision of the doctor and medical staff not to take a risk. We can’t. It makes no sense. It’s a small problem so that we can fix it in a few days probably. “I’m not happy and I’m disappointed as he is our main striker and one of the best, not only at Tottenham, but in Europe and the world. You will always miss your best striker.” All eyes will now be on Llorente, who has failed to score in five appearance since his £14million move from Swansea, having largely played second fiddle to Kane. His lack of match practice was clear in Wednesday’s 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat by West Ham. “We believe in the collective, the squad,” said Pochettino, who saw his Spurs side score 17 goals in five games without an injured Kane for two separate spells of last season.
KANE PAIN IS THE KEY
A FEW weeks ago, when Gareth Bale was ruled out of Wales’ important World Cup qualifiers, there was a lot of chat here at William Hill as to which sports people would drastically affect their teams’ odds in a negative way were they suddenly unavailable for selection.
That has now happened for Tottenham, who are without injured striker Harry Kane for today’s visit to Manchester United.
Spurs’ price to bank three points has drifted from 5-2 to 13-5, while United have been cut from 5-4 to 23-20 to win. Romelu Lukaku is the 10-3 favourite to score first.
BY JOE CRILLY