Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)

CHRISTMAS FIXTURE

Conte says Kane is ‘undroppabl­e’ for Spurs’ upcoming December schedule

- BY MIKE WALTERS @Mikewalter­smgm

Tomorrow: 2pm ANTONIO CONTE has assured Harry Kane he is undroppabl­e in Tottenham’s December schedule – despite him scoring just once in 12 Premier League games.

For Spurs’ schedule of eight games in 30 days either side of Christmas, their Italian head coach said: “Honestly, I don’t see this team starting without Harry.”

Kane’s 14 goals for club and country this season have so far looked like the plunder of a flattrack bully, fleshed out by hattricks against Europa Conference minnows NS Mura and for England against Albania.

But Conte insists he is pleased with the Three Lions captain’s overall contributi­on, saying: “If I answer in an honest way, to start a game without Harry now is a bit difficult for me.

“I always like to be honest with my players and if I wasn’t satisfied with Harry’s performanc­es, for sure I would tell him, but he is playing well and doing fantastic work for the team.

“I know that, for strikers, it is vital to score, but at the same time we have to think first of Tottenham, what is best for Tottenham and what is important for us if Harry scores is to take three points.

“A player like Harry can always solve the game because he has fantastic quality, he is a complete player, a real top player, and I’m honestly not worried about him.

“But last time against Mura, Kane scored and we lost the game. I want to be selfish – only that we win the game. Sometimes a striker does not score and that’s life – but his contributi­on to the team is still at a very important level.”

Kane’s only Premier League goal to date this season was against wooden spoonists Newcastle (above) and tomorrow he faces 19th-placed Norwich at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Asked why his talisman was still filling his boots against internatio­nal makeweight­s but not in the league, Conte admitted there was an obvious gulf in class.

He said: “The Premier League is a very, very tough league. Every game that you play is not easy. Sometimes with the national team, you can play against teams not so strong. This is the great difference you can find between the two different situations.”

Despite Conte raising the alarm last month about the overall quality of the squad he inherited from Nuno Espirito Santo, Tottenham could be fourth before the weekend is out.

But he revealed chairman Daniel Levy had not set him a specific target when he accepted the job, saying: “When I arrived and spoke with the club, they didn’t ask me for anything.

“Daniel Levy wanted me strongly, not because I will bring with me stupid promises. He wanted me here for my reputation, for my work, my ideas, my method, my capacity to build something important – especially because in the start they didn’t have a solid foundation.

“If he had asked me something different I would probably have said, ‘Thanks very much, but it’s not the right moment’ [to take the

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