Sky Sports pundit Steve Sidwell has suggested the Tottenham dressing room could be fretting about the absence of “talisman” Harry Kane.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Debate programme (14:30) in the aftermath of their League Cup elimination on Thursday night, ex-Chelsea midfielder Sidwell pointed out in conversation with former Spurs man Ryan Mason how morale may have sunk among Mauricio Pochettino’s players.
Chief among the concerns is that the team cannot call upon leading goalscorer Kane until at least March after he suffered ankle ligament damage.
Sidwell said: “It’s going to be a testing time with him (Pochettino) and his players. It’s so vital he keeps that positivity in the dressing room.
“There’s more than enough in there that can still mount a challenge. We’ve been in dressing rooms before and sometimes when your talisman gets a knock and is out for a few weeks, the whispers go round the dressing room.
“You’re like, (puffs out cheeks), ‘we could be in trouble here’. So, they’re going to need to re-group. There are tough times to come.”
OPINION
Spurs’ players wouldn’t be human if they weren’t fretting about Kane’s absence. The team have coped well in each of the previous three seasons when Kane has been sidelined with ankle injuries, but they were able to call upon Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli to take on the scoring burden. With Alli also out injured until March and Son on international duty for potentially another fortnight, the immediate future does not look rosy for Tottenham. The problem is that they could be out of all the cup competitions by the time Kane is fit again to spearhead the attack. Moreover, Son has tended to return from extended spells of national team duty with South Korea exhausted and far less effective than before he had left London. The only short-term glimmer of light is that Fernando Llorente scored a comeback goal for Tottenham against Chelsea last night. That will at least give the Spaniard, who led the attack for a second consecutive match, a huge confidence boost.