Tottenham 2-2 Stoke
by Kadeem Simmonds
at White Hart Lane

MAURICIO POCHETTINO played down Harry Kane’s fitness levels after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Stoke, despite the England international still not being fully fit after his excursions with the under-21 squad.

Kane left the field with Spurs 2-0 up, with Eric Dier and Nacer Chadli putting the hosts up before the break.

But Kane was replaced with Erik Lamela after 62 minutes and a Marko Arnautovic penalty, followed by a Mame Diouf header, meant that Tottenham are still looking for their first win of the season.

Fans made their feelings heard at the end of the game, asking why Kane was taken off and demanding that another striker be signed before the close of the window.

But Pochettino feels that Kane will be back to his best soon, explaining that he is a bit behind the rest of his teammates due to him arriving late for pre-season.

“He needs time to improve his performance, his fitness level and to build his confidence again,” the Spurs boss said. “But we spoke a lot about this last season because you know he wanted to play in the Under-21s Euros and then afterwards he needed a holiday and he arrived late to start pre-season. So he is a little bit late.”

Kane was not at his best at White Hart Lane, squandering a golden chance at 2-0 which would have put the game to bed. And Stoke manager Mark Hughes remarked after that he “didn’t realise Harry had gone off.”

However, Pochettino believes that the result had nothing to do with Kane being substituted and more to do with a poor defensive display.

“For me it’s not a big discussion about Kane. Kane was tired today and we scored two goals and I think that was enough to win the game. I think my concern is to improve in our defensive situation and not offensive.”

The need for a new striker is great, with Roberto Soldado finally completing a move to Villareal over the weekend leaving Spurs with only one forward to pick from.

But the Argentinian was calm that another player would be brought in before the close of the window.

“The transfer window is open,” he said. “The season has started, people are doing business. Maybe it’s a good thing to fix in the future. This is the rule in the Premier League and it’s for all the clubs, we’re all on the same page.”