Tottenham boss Pochettino must err on the side of caution over Kane

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Tottenham Hotspur remain in the hunt for the Premier League title.

The north Londoners are only five points adrift of table-toppers Manchester City and second-placed Liverpool.

Spurs can close the gap between themselves and City by beating Burnley on Saturday, with Pep Guardiola’s side in action against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final.

At one point it had looked like Spurs had slipped out of the race, but a solid Christmas and New Year has seen them come back into contention – since the start of December they have lost just two league games to Arsenal and Manchester United.

There’s too much at stake to rush Kane back

Mauricio Pochettino has suggested Harry Kane could return to face Burnley at the weekend.

He said in his press conference, as quoted by the club’s official website: “Everyone knows that Harry is an animal. He wants to be ready as soon as possible. We are so happy that in the last 10 days he’s been fantastic in training and if he can be available again it will be a massive boost for everyone.”

Kane will surely be in his manager’s ear pushing for a start, knowing his excellent attitude towards playing football.

But Pochettino cannot afford to risk his talisman if he is anything less than 100%.

If Kane is rushed back and aggravates his injury, then Pochettino might cost his team a genuine shot at the Premier League title.

He has to manage the situation carefully. Struggling Burnley is perhaps a ‘good’ game for the returning Kane to miss, and with Heung-min Son in blistering form, and extra weekend’s rest could be the right thing for the striker.