In a season when Tottenham Hotspur are having to rotate players most weeks, manager Mauricio Pochettino admits Harry Kane will need to rest up soon.
Spurs have had injuries galore this season, many of them coming for the 12 players they had at the World Cup in Russia in the summer. Pochettino has been juggling the best interests of all his players with a fixture schedule that is bringing matches every three days.
Kane, who was the top scorer at the World Cup, has started every match for Tottenham barring the Carabao Cup matches against Watford and West Ham.
The striker rarely wants to miss matches as he chases goals and remained on the pitch for Wednesday night’s win at Southampton despite the team being 3-0 up within ten minutes of the second half as he looked to add to his 13 goals for Spurs this season.
Back-up striker Fernando Llorente has started only once this season, in the Carabao Cup, and has only played 13 minutes of Premier League football this campaign.
When asked whether there was any concern about Kane hitting the wall having played so many games.
“Yes we are thinking about that too. At the moment we see him with plenty of energy and that is why he plays,” he said on Friday.
“We’ll see tomorrow. Every day we assess the player. Then we assess on Tuesday. But of course if we play with some players and repeat in every game then it is because we believe they can cope with the demands, physical demands.”
Pochettino was asked whether Kane has higher fitness levels than his team-mates or whether his role required different levels.
“It is many reasons, but of course in different periods some players are in a better condition than another. Players who came from injury maybe can’t play two or three games in a row,” he explained.
“Harry Kane is doing so well this season and I hope it continues. Resting and working a little is full energy to play. But we are thinking too that maybe in some games we need to rest him too. Of course.”