Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino will be the one who has the final say on whether or not striker Harry Kane will play at Burnley.
The England captain is back in training following an ankle injury, which has kept him out of his club’s last seven games, and could return to the side for Saturday lunchtime’s Premier League clash at Turf Moor.
It will complete a rapid recovery by Kane, who was initially expected to be out until the middle of March, and the player himself believes he is ready to start.
However, Pochettino will not allow his judgement to be swayed by Kane’s opinion. “I don’t care if he wants to play or not,” he said. “I’ll decide with my coaching staff and the doctor and sports science staff.
“Every player that came from an injury or illness, it’s about the structure, when he’s possible to play or not. “If you ask him 10 days ago, he was ready to play! But the last word is always myself. I take the risk, the decision for the team.”
Considering he was originally expected to be out for another few weeks, the prospect of having the England star back for heavyweight clashes against Chelsea, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund in the next fortnight is a major boost for Spurs.
Kane has a history of shaking off injuries quicker than first thought and Pochettino has described him as an “animal”.
“He’s not ahead of schedule but everyone knows that Harry is an animal, he wants to be ready as soon as possible,” the Argentinian added.
“He made everything to try to recover and, of course, the injury that he suffered is tough to recover from, but it’s more the possibility that when you push, you push.
“In some injuries, you cannot push too much because you need to be careful. “When it’s a massive injury, it’s completely different.
We’re so happy that in the last 10 days he was fantastic, back in training again, and he can be available again. It’s going to be a massive impact for everyone.”
