Pochettino backs Kane to end drought against Saints
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has been backed to rediscover his scoring touch by manager Mauricio Pochettino ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League visit to Southampton.
Kane, the l eague’s top scorer last season with 25 goals, has seven for fifthplaced Spurs in the current top-flight campaign and has not scored in his last three appearances.
“I am not worried about him,” Pochettino said. “For me he is one of the best strikers in the world, for different reasons maybe he didn’t score in the last few games, but I have no doubt that it is only a few games.
“He is a fantastic player and a top scorer. I have no doubt he will start to score as soon as possible.”
Going by Kane’s record from last season, Pochettino is justified in not hitting the panic button just yet.
The 23-year-old got nine league goals up to Christmas last year before adding 16 to win the golden boot award ahead of Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.
Tottenham trailed leaders Chelsea by 10 points before Chelsea played yesterday but Pochettino is confident his team can close the gap in the second half of the season.
“I think it is realistic because there are a lot of games to play,” the Argentine said. “So I think we can achieve that and we can fight for the title at the end of the season.
“That is up to us — belief and to be ambitious. We must try to give our best to try to improve every week and every game.”
His squad has been boosted by the return of midfielder Mousa Dembele, striker Vincent Janssen and Toby Alderweireld for the Southampton game, with only Argentina forward Erik Lamela still unavailable.
Tottenham’s France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has signed a new contract that will take him through to 2022, the Premier League club said.
The 29-year-old, who captains club and country, has made 189 appearances for Spurs since joining from Olympique Lyonnais in 2012 for a fee of about £12 million (US$14.81 million).
“I’m very pleased with this new contract,” Lloris told the club website (www. tottenhamhotspur.com).
“That’s the way I show my commitment to the club, to my teammates and the gaffer [manager Mauricio Pochettino] and to show again how much I believe in this project and hopefully the best year is ahead.”
Lloris is the latest player to commit his future to the London club after new deals for defenders Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen, midfielders Eric Dier and Dele Alli, and striker Kane.