Mauricio Pochettino is “worried” about the extent of Harry Kane’s ankle injury after the forward picked up a knock in the closing stages of Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford’s first-half strike proved to be the difference at Wembley as Spurs missed the chance to climb to second place in the Premier League table – but Kane’s injury could have even bigger implications for the north Londoners’ season.
Can Spurs cope without Kane? Five key things to know
- Kane is Tottenham’s top scorer with 14 Premier League goals this season.
- Son-Heung min is set to miss five Spurs games while he competes at the Asian Cup, which concludes on February 1.
- Spurs face a trio of London derbies this month as they attempt to compete on four fronts between now and the end of the season.
- Tottenham are unlikely to make any major signings during the January transfer window.
- Fernando Llorente is yet to score a Premier League goal this season.
Kane was caught by United defender Phil Jones in the dying seconds of the game and limped off the Wembley pitch in clear discomfort.
Losing Kane at such a crucial stage of the season would represent a huge blow for Pochettino, particularly as Son-Heung min is set for an extended period of absence due to international commitments with South Korea.
Spurs can ill-afford to have Fernando Llorente as their only option at centre-forward and the Argentine coach has admitted he is concerned that Kane could be set for a spell on the sidelines.
“My worry is that it was a bad tackle in the last moment,” Pochettino told his pre-match press conference (via the Mirror).
“It wasn’t the intention of the United player but it was a bad tackle and now he has bit of a swelling on his ankle and he was limping after the game.
“We are going to lose [Heung-Min] Son for the Asia Cup and if Harry Kane suffers an injury, it is going to be massive for us.”
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Pochettino praises second-half display
Meanwhile, Spurs could count themselves unlucky for failing to find an equaliser against United at Wembley.
David De Gea was in inspired form for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s resurgent side and Pochettino is adamant that he was not disappointed with his players’ efforts after they came up short.
He told BBC Sport: “Maybe we dominated and we created a lot of chances. It was an amazing second half, I am so pleased.
“Sometimes you win a game and you are disappointed, like when we won 3-0 at Old Trafford. They were better than us that day.
“Today the result should be different and I am happy. That is the way that we want to grow and play. Taking risks, playing football that we are going to play.
“The team was fantastic, that is the best 45 minutes I have seen Tottenham play since I took charge.”
“There were 11 saves from De Gea who was outstanding. He fully deserved to be Man of the Match.”
The post Pochettino fears “massive” Spurs injury blow as Man Utd loss leaves Kane limping appeared first on Squawka News.
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