IT’S HARRY PAIN! KANE OUT OF UNITED MATCH

United boss claims Matic was always his No 1 midfield target

WHEN Jose Mourinho sat down at Carrington yesterday, it felt like one of those times when he would spice up Manchester United’s match against Tottenham with some mischief.

‘Hello, hello,’ chirped Mourinho. ‘Because I know the first question, I’ll answer without the question.’

Turns out he thought it was going to be about Tottenham’s injured striker Harry Kane.

‘Don’t ask me about Harry Kane,’ came the unsolicited reply. ‘I don’t speak about injured players. To speak about Harry Kane, I have to speak about (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic, about (Marouane) Fellaini, about (Paul) Pogba, about (Marcos) Rojo, about Michael Carrick.’

Mourinho, as it transpired, was not particularly keen to discuss Mauricio Pochettino and the job he is doing at Tottenham, either.

But when it came to comments from the Spurs boss in Brave New

World, a revealing new book on Pochettino’s time in charge at White Hart Lane, Mourinho had little choice but to respond.

In the book, Pochettino claims Mourinho’s attempts to lure Eric Dier to United extended to approaching the player in the tunnel after the clubs met at Old Trafford last December.

‘Maybe it is a common Mourinho tactic, but he put Eric in a compromising position,’ writes Pochettino, adding Dier later confirmed United’s interest dated back to the previous summer. When that was put to Mourinho yesterday, his reaction was to insist Nemanja Matic, not Dier, was always his No 1 midfield transfer target — though he did not believe United could sign the Serb from Chelsea, even for £40million.

‘I have the player who I want to have,’ he said. ‘Probably I have the player I didn’t think it was possible to have, but we got the player I really wanted.

‘I never said that I wanted Dier. I never say who the players are I want. During the summer, Mauricio called me and I called him and we asked about each other’s players to see if they were available or not.

‘I don’t know why I should speak to Dier on a football matchday in the tunnel. Maybe it is to try and sell books.’

Talking of the book, could Mourinho assess the job Pochettino is doing at Tottenham?

‘It’s not for me to judge,’ he said. ‘Pressure, no pressure, has to win the title, yes or no, it’s not my problem. He’s one of the guys I’ve known for years and we’ve always had a very good relationship. He’s a very good manager — but don’t ask me more than that.’

The edge in Mourinho’s voice was understandable considering the events of the past fortnight. A respectable, albeit dour, draw at Liverpool has been put in a very different perspective by last Saturday’s chastening defeat at promoted Huddersfield.

All of a sudden Manchester City have opened up a five-point gap at the top of the table and Mourinho knows that cannot be allowed to grow considering the pace being set by Pep Guardiola’s side.

It has put extra pressure on second-placed United and thirdplaced Tottenham going into today’s lunchtime meeting.

Mourinho finds himself up against a vibrant Spurs team led by a dynamic coach in Pochettino, who will fancy his chances of inflicting a second, damaging defeat on United in the space of eight days.

The United boss has challenged his players to show their hunger for success and heart for a fight.

‘To play badly and lose matches, that can happen again,’ said Mourinho, who expects to have Phil Jones and Eric Bailly back together in central defence.

‘It happens. You cannot play well all the time, you cannot even be lucky all the time. So to lose again, it is going to happen. But in terms of the attitude we didn’t like, and knowing the players and what good people they are, I believe it was an isolated case.’

He played down suggestions that United have a slight advantage

after playing Swansea in the Carabao Cup 24 hours before Tottenham lost to West Ham.

‘My feeling is the majority of the players who played that match are not going to play tomorrow,’ said Mourinho. ‘Maybe I’m wrong but I think Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen, Serge Aurier, Harry Winks, they had so many players not involved who are going to play tomorrow, so I don’t think it has a real impact.

‘Dele Alli played but he didn’t play against Real Madrid. I don’t think it’s a problem for them. They are a young, strong team, also physically. They will be what they are: a very good team.’