SPURS MAY FRONT UP WITHOUT KANE
MAURICIO POCHETTINO must decide whether to risk Harry Kane against Anderlecht or play without a recognised centre forward tonight after revealing his leading man is carrying a knock. The Tottenham manager hinted last night that he is considering leaving out a frontman who is even more important to the attack following the foot injury suffered by Son Heung-min. The South Korean’s return date keeps changing, with Pochettino saying last night that he is ‘three weeks maximum’ away from coming back, having claimed the same a week ago about the £22million signing, who has not played since the end of September. That has left Kane as the last man standing but Pochettino let slip that a knock in the latter stages of Saturday’s draw with Liverpool has made him a significant doubt for tonight’s match. Pochettino said: ‘We need to assess him because at the end of the game against Liverpool, Harry had a small problem. It is a big test for him to play from the beginning. ‘It is possible he will start on the bench here. As normal we need to manage in a good way and assess and analyse every little detail. He has a knock, not an injury. ‘The player always wants to play. Afterwards I decide if the player is wrong. We have other players in the squad and we believe in all our players.’ Kane took part in training last night but if Pochettino does leave him out, it is expected he will hand a first start to Clinton Njie, a £10million summer signing more used to playing wide. Added to the loss of Nacer Chadli for six weeks with an ankle injury, it is a setback for Tottenham, who want to qualify for the knockout stages before a congested domestic schedule in November and December. Skipper Jan Vertonghen said: ‘In the Europa League we have always played a strong team so far, both at home against Qarabag (3-1 win) and in Monaco (1-1). ‘It is a goal to secure qualification as soon as possible. After our (next) game against Qarabag we play Sunday against Chelsea. It would not come to us as bad then because some players can rest. We have quite a lot of injuries.’ Pochettino added: ‘It is difficult with Europa League and Premier League in November and December and in England you play a lot of games. The most important game is the game we have ahead.’