Mark Lawrenson explains how Harry Kane has affected the mindset of Tottenham

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Mark Lawrenson believes that the mindset of a few Tottenham players may have been affected by the return of Harry Kane.

Spurs have welcomed back their star centre-forward from injury, but since his comeback they have lost back-to-back games in the Premier League against Burnley and Chelsea.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side now have a colossal North London derby ahead of them at the weekend and go into the fixture in bad shape.

BBC pundit Lawrenson has suggested that Kane’s return may have made a few players take their foot off the gas.

They had won all four of their league games without him and have now hit a dip in the road since he returned.

“Harry Kane’s return from injury might have affected the mindset of one or two of their players,” Lawrenson wrote for BBC Sport.

“When a big player like that comes back, there is a tendency for everyone else to think: ‘We are going to be fine now.’ It is a strange dynamic, and it can affect performances and results.

TBR’s View:

Kane surely can’t be blamed for the drop off from some teammates in the last couple of games and they have proven they can still deliver top-class performances without him.

Any team in the world would be reliant on a prolific striker like Kane, but he needs time to get up to full speed after an injury problem and it’s no excuse for some players to get complacent now he’s available again.

Fortunately they have the perfect fixture in Arsenal to put a nightmare week behind them if they win, but a defeat would really derail the season and leave them just a point above fourth-placed Arsenal in the league table.