‘HARRY WON’T HIDE FROM HIS GOAL DROUGHT’
CHRIS HUGHTON was one of the first managers to unleash Harry Kane’s potential – and is backing the England captain to emerge from Tottenham’s lean spell because he “never hides”.
Six years ago, when Kane had only scored one goal for Spurs – against Shamrock Rovers in Europe – Hughton took him on loan at Norwich.
The Brighton manager is convinced Kane’s current hiatus of four games without a goal for club or country is only a brief respite for defenders.
And Hughton, who played 398 games for Tottenham between 1977 and 1990, said: “There isn’t a striker around who has never been through a disappointing period or a lean spell – and for Harry Kane it will all change, although hopefully not at our expense.
“Those things are normal, and sometimes you look to do too much to try and put it right, like dropping deeper to get on the ball.
“But the one thing that I see in him – and I don’t think there are any doubters – is that he never hides.
“Everyone knows the quality he has, everyone knows of his desire to play and score goals, and under Tottenham’s guidance I think he has become a world-class player.
“Even when I worked with him at Norwich, he was a wonderful finisher with either foot.
“What I would say is that he has ended up a more mobile player, a more athletic player, than perhaps some would have thought back then.
“It’s a big credit to him, and Tottenham Hotspur, for the way he has developed as a player.”