BOURNEM’TH v SPURS KANE ...AND ABLE
Ake can’t wait for double header with Spurs ace
NATHAN AKE is on a double mission to shut out Harry Kane – for both club and country.
Bournemouth star Ake comes face-to-face with Kane today and is also set to be up against the Tottenham hitman in England’s friendly in Holland later this month.
Former Chelsea ace Ake, who has been included in new Holland boss Ronald Koeman’s 32-man squad for the Amsterdam clash, said: “It is always a good challenge.
“That is what you want to do – play against the best players in the league, so I am looking forward to it.
“Kane is a top player. You only have to look at the number of goals he has scored for four seasons in a row now.
“He is so hard to play against and is always popping up in open spaces.
“He is also so quick, very strong and you always have to be 100 per cent focused on where he is.
Strong
“It will be a good test for me because he is one of the toughest opponents I have ever played against.
“It will be nice to play against England and Kane as well.”
Ake has revealed Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has been working overtime in training to come up with a way to deal with the England striker’s aerial prowess.
Kane (below) headed against a post during Spurs’ Champions League defeat by Juventus on Wednesday.
Ake said: “He is very strong in the air and gets into nto good positions to head the ball.
“We have been n doing a lot of work in training to stop that.
“It is a bigger game, but you still l go in with the same me mentality because you want to win every game game.
“We will need to be a bit more careful as they have a lot of quality – especially up front.”
Ake is expecting a Spurs backlash f ollowing t heir European heartache. He said: “Tottenham “T h will ill b be disappointed di i d to have gone out of the Champions League. They played very well, so it was tough on them. “They probably cannot believe they are out, out but will come here with a good spirit and try very ver hard to win the game. ga “But any team can beat any other team in t he Premier League, so we are co confident we can win, esp especially because we are p playing at home.” Ake quit Chelsea to complete a £20million move to the south coast in the summer, following a loan spell at the Vitality Stadium last season. And the dreadlocked defender has hailed Cherries chief Howe for f turning i him hi i into a better b player.
Ake said: “When I came here from the very first day, I wanted to do well. It is hard to come back to a club where the expectations are a bit higher.
“But I am pleased with how it has gone and the only thing now is for us to finish the season well.
“One of the reasons I came here was to play a lot of games and learn. I have made mistakes, but have come back stronger from it.
“I review almost every match with the manager.
“He shows me the clips and where I can improve and that has helped make me better.
“He has helped me a lot.” JAN VERTONGHEN has told his Tottenham team-mates and boss Mauricio Pochettino that winning trophies together will be so much sweeter than doing it elsewhere.
Spurs’ Champions League exit at the hands of Juventus in midweek means they can only win the FA Cup this season.
If they fail and don’t win anything next year either there are concerns Poch’s young wwC team could start to break up.
But Vertonghen (right) said: “This team can reach a lot and it’s always nicer to have achieved this with a group of players who have been together for a long time and