Kane, Pochettino hail MLS All-Star test

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is looking forward to his first pre-season hit-out and claims the MLS All-Star Game will be ideal preparation with the Premier League less than two weeks away.

The MLS All-Stars will take on Tottenham on Wednesday in Denver, Colorado, and both Kane and manager Mauricio Pochettino underlined the importance of the match for the London-based club ahead of their Premier League opener away to Manchester United on August 8.

Tottenham have not played since their post-season friendly against Sydney FC in May and Kane said taking on the best from MLS will be a good test.

“It’s going to be a tough game and that’s what we want,” the 21-year-old forward said at Monday’s media conference in Denver.

“It’s not long until the season starts and we need to see what we need to work on. For me, it’ll be my first game of pre-season, so I’m looking forward to it.”

In last year’s MLS All-Star Game, Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola blamed his counterpart Caleb Porter for a couple of rough tackles on Xherdan Shaqiri and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Pochettino joked, however, that as an Argentine, he would embrace a physical contest before adding: “We expect a very tough game but I would never not shake hands with the opposing coach.”

With David Villa, Robbie Keane, Sebastian Giovinco, Kaka and Steven Gerrard available for the host side, Kyle Walker conceded he and his fellow Tottenham defenders would have to be focused on Wednesday.

“They’ve proved their quality in other leagues and we’ll have to be on our game,” he said.

“It will be a good test for us and it’s one I’m definitely looking forward to.”

In the past five MLS All-Star Games, the guest club have won on three occasions, with the hosts defeating Bayern in 2014 and Chelsea in 2012.