Tottenham Hotspur

Mauricio Pochettino: 'Harry Kane is tired after England Under-21 summer duty'

By Shane Callaghan, Reporter | 25 September 2015

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino says that Harry Kane's goalscoring woes are linked to exhaustion following England Under-21s' Euro 2015 campaign.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has suggested that Harry Kane's involvement in England Under-21s' European Championship campaign could be the reason behind his goal-shy start to the season

The 22-year-old striker, who struck 31 times in all competitions last term, is yet to open his account after eight appearances in the 2015-16 campaign.

Kane also struggled to set Euro 2015 alight with the Young Lions, failing to score in any of his three games, and Pochettino refuses to believe that his goalscoring woes are not linked to exhaustion.

"I think Harry is the same person and he has the same mentality as last season," he told a press conference. "But maybe at the end of the season, he rested, he went to the Euros and he didn't score at the Euros in three games.

"He came back late for pre-season and then you need to recover the time. Sometimes, you are not in the best scoring condition when you start to play and you don't score and your confidence goes down.

"This is probably what has happened but it is a good experience for the future."

In spite of his low-profile start to the campaign, Kane is expected to spearhead Spurs' attack in Saturday's visit of Manchester City.