Pochettino dodges Kane fitness question ahead of Old Trafford clash

It’s the potential non-story that just won’t go away. Just days before a hugely anticipated match up between Tottenham Hotspur and Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United at Old Trafford, there are still unsubstantiated rumors that Harry Kane might be a doubt due to an injury.

Kane was subbed off in the waning minutes of Spurs’ 4-1 win over Liverpool this past weekend after going down with what looked like a cramp. However, the television cameras caught him massaging his left hamstring while walking towards the bench. Cue endless media speculation!

Mauricio Pochettino was quick to deny that anything was wrong immediately after the game, but was asked again in a post-League Cup press conference and instead of denying it, he dodged the question.

"We need to assess the team, we were forced to rotate [tonight] for different reasons.

We’ll see.”

Well, THAT’S not potentially upsetting at ALL.

But should we be concerned? Possibly not. Apart from Pochettino’s caginess about Kane, there isn’t any evidence at all that Kane might miss the trip to Old Trafford. Pochettino, as we know full well, hates talking about player injuries unless it’s blindingly obvious that the player is seriously hurt, and even then he tends to, well, fudge the truth somewhat.

Moreover, if Kane was truly injured and not just rested, it seems extremely unlikely that both Son Heung-Min and Fernando Llorente would’ve both started and played against West Ham last night. Combine that with the fact that Pochettino’s preparing for a match against Mister Mind-Games himself, Jose Mourinho, and it’s not that difficult to suggest that he might be trying to obfuscate a few things here.

Finally, Press Association reporter Tom Allnutt suggests that this is exactly what’s going on: Kane’s been burning the candle at both ends lately and just needed a break.

We’ll find out on Saturday, obviously. But hopefully Kane’s ready to go — even without Pogba, I don’t relish the idea of going to Old Trafford without Spurs’ best player and the Premier League’s leading goal scorer.