Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PRESSURE WILL NOTT BE A PROBLEM FOR MARTIN
JOHN ROBERTSON brought two European Cups back to the City Ground alongside Martin O’neill as Nottingham Forest players.
And the man who knows the 66-year-old better than most believes O’neill can cope with the pressure of being the prodigal son returning as manager. MAURICIO POCHETTINO has warned his players Harry Kane’s injury will be “no excuse” if they come up short this season.
Spurs were rocked after star striker Kane was ruled out until early March, due to ankle ligament damage, in a huge blow to their trophy and top-four hopes.
Kane is set to miss at least 11 games, including next week’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea, a potential final if Spurs progress and both legs of their Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Manager Pochettino said: “Of course, Harry Kane is one of the best strikers in the world.
“And, in any team with aspirations to win, you need your best players, but that cannot be an excuse in case we do not achieve all that we want.
“We know very well what it means to have Harry Kane fit and available to play and to help the team to win, but we have a squad.
“We need to compete in the best way and, in the next game, we need to go to play against Fulham and after, the second leg of the semi-final against Chelsea, with the same mentality, thinking that we can beat any team.”
Kane, Spurs’ 20-goal top scorer, was injured when he was caught late by Phil Jones during Spurs’ 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on Sunday.
This is the fourth time he has suffered ankle ligament damage in the last three years and he has a history of making rapid recoveries, enabling him to return to action early. But, due to swelling on the injury, it is too early to know his situation.
And it is likely to be around a fortnight before he finds out if he can make another fast recovery this time around to boost Spurs’ prospects.