Kane absence no excuse for Spurs loss: Pochettino

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, October 29: Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has refused to blame Harry Kane's absence for their drubbing against Manchester United as the visitors faced their second defeat in the league at Old Trafford.

Martial came off the bench to score the winner in the 81st minute for the Red Devils and handed Spurs their fourth consecutive defeat at Old Trafford without scoring.

The North London side came to United without their star player Harry Kane as the English striker was out injured because of a hamstring strain and without the Premier League top scorer, they could not break the deadlock. Dele Alli came close to scoring a winner in the second half when Eriksen lofted a brilliant ball into the penalty box, cutting two defenders however the young Englishmen only wasted the chance to score the goal.

In Kane's absence, attacker Son was given the role of a number nine and later in the second half, new signing Llorente was called off from the bench to provide more attacking depth however it was clearly visible that the team was missing their star player as Spurs were inept to score from the half chances.

But following the game when manager Pochettino was asked if they had missed Kane the Argentine said the absence of top scorer Harry Kane was no excuse for his team's 1-0 loss.

Pochettino told Sky Sports: "If Dele Alli scored before we conceded, maybe now the question would be different.

"It's always about the result in football. Of course, you're always going to miss your main striker and Kane is one of the best strikers. But it's not fair to talk about Kane and we need to be fair with everyone. If Alli scored, be sure we'd be talking in a different way. If you analyse the game, it was even but the result was different.

"It was the best chance. It was the chance for 1-0 up but instead 1-0 down. Now, we move on."

Kane has been in sensational form for Tottenham lately this season, scoring 13 goals in 12 appearances in all competitions and the manager will be desperate to have him back in the midweek clash where they will host Real Madrid at Wembley. However, Pochettino remained coy on the matter while discussing the possibility of Kane's return date as he suggested he is still not sure about the forward's return date.

"We'll see in the next few days and take a decision," Pochettino said about Kane.