Tottenham striker Harry Kane has been ruled out of action with an ankle injury and reports suggest he could be sidelined for eight weeks
Tottenham recorded a 1-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday afternoon, as England striker, Harry Kane grabbed the only goal of the game from close-range.
The home side dominated the encounter and the winning margin would have been a higher one if it was not for the efforts of the Black Cats young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The win was positive as was the performance, but Kane being substituted in the 86th minute with an ankle injury put a major downer on the day.
Scans have now revealed that the striker has suffered ligament damage in his ankle and reports suggest he could be out for up to eight weeks.
Pochettino not willing to give a time-scale
Speaking before Spurs League Cup game with Gillingham, boss Mauricio Pochettino was unwilling to give a time scale saying: “He [Kane] has injured his ankle ligaments. We will continue to assess him every day but don’t want to put a time-frame on it.”
“Today it’s impossible to give a time for a recovery. I am not a doctor. I can only explain what the doctors said to me.
“He is in a very good mood. We chatted before in the restaurant, he’s in a very good way. There are different rumours, we cannot guess whether it’s eight weeks, 10, four, one. It’s impossible to assess today and know how long.”
Any period of time without Harry Kane is likely to hamper Tottenham’s prospects this season, as he is such a key player in the team.
Harry Kane is irreplaceable
Kane has become one of Tottenham’s most influential players in the last few seasons. In fact, the England striker had started the last 71 consecutive Premier League games, which is highly impressive considering that he has played football solidly for the last three years.
The 23-year-old had scored 47 goals in those 71 top-flight starts and won the Premier League Golden Boot last season. The striker is simply irreplaceable because of the attributes he brings to his team.
Tottenham have been light up front in the past couple of years and fans have dreaded Kane being injured, due to that lack of alternative or a replacement for Kane.
Pochettino had the foresight to sign Dutch striker Vincent Janssen this summer, but the Netherlands international has made just one Premier League start for the side from north London.
Janssen has looked lively in his cameos for Pochettino’s team but has failed to score. He is likely to get the chance to prove himself over the next couple of months for Spurs.
The north London side also have the option of playing versatile South Korean international Son Heung-Min as a central striker in Kane’s absence. Son has impressed playing as a left-winger in his first two appearances of the campaign for Spurs and is definitely a viable option for the role.
At Stoke, he scored twice and supplied an assist and against Sunderland he produced another good display and was slightly unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet.
Obviously, Son or Janssen do not have the same attributes as Kane, but both could add a different dimension to Spurs’ play.
Kane will miss vital games this season
Tottenham host Gillingham at White Hart Lane in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, in a game, that Spurs are favourites to win at odds of 2/9. Kane’s absence is unlikely to be felt in Wednesday’s encounter, but it will be in some of the upcoming Premier League and Champions League games.
If as reported Kane is out of action for eight weeks that means he will miss games against Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League, not to mention four Champions League group games.
A lot can happen in eight weeks, for example by the time Kane returns from injury Spurs could be teetering on the edge of being eliminated from the Champions League and out of the race for the Premier League title, if they were ever in it.
Harry Kane may just be one player, but for a team like Spurs, his loss for any significant amount of time could have a major influence on their campaign.
For Tottenham’s sake, I hope that the likes of Son and Janssen can fill Kane’s boots successfully while he is away, because if they do not then by the time the striker returns then Spurs could find it hard to recover their season.
How well will Tottenham cope without Harry Kane?
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