With Tottenham Hotspur staging a remarkable comeback on Wednesday evening as we took an aggregate Semi-Final victory over Dutch side Ajax to set up a Champions League Final clash against Liverpool, England striker Harry Kane may not have been on the pitch, but he certainly played his part.
With Lucas Moura grabbing a hattrick in the game as we found ourselves three goals down in the tie, when the final whistle went the meltdown began and Kane’s own celebrations on the pitch with his teammates certainly didn’t appear to be hampered by his ankle injury.
Speaking to the BBC following the game, the 25-year-old admitted that he was ‘hopeful’ of playing some part in the Final out in Madrid now, as he had already begun running again to build his fitness back up after the layoff.
“Rehab is going well. I started straight line running this week and I have to start training even harder to prove myself to the gaffer.”
He admitted that the first half showing was disappointing, but he was in the dressing room at the halftime break to give his own encouragement. Seeing what Kieran Trippier told Sky Sports in his own interviews, I think the word ‘encouragement’ is right anyway.
“Harry’s exceptional for club and country. I don’t know the timescale with his injury but obviously we’re all hoping he can be back because of his presence, even here. At half-time he came in and was going mental at us because we can do better, which we all knew, but this is what we need, the leadership he has. The way he came in at half-time and wasn’t happy, we all knew that. He just gives us that extra lift because his presence was massive for us.”