Tottenham Hotspur manager has confirmed that skipper Harry Kane will start when they host Manchester United on Friday in their first match after Premier League returned on Wednesday following a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kane has been remained out of action for the last six months due to injury. Mourinho also said that Mousa Sissoko and Son Heung-Min have also recovered and are ready to play. All three were ruled due to injury before Premier League was suspended due to the coronavirus situation.
“The ones that had surgeries, Kane, Son and Sissoko have all recovered and are ready to play,” Mourinho told a news conference held via Zoom as shared on the club’s official website tottenhamhotspur.com.
“Kane is working extremely well, I can tell you no problem he is going to start the game. Does he have 90 minutes, 80, 70, 60? I don’t know. Only the game will tell us that.
“Is he in his top of his form? We don’t know. He’s had six months without a match but he’s an amazing professional,” added Mourinho who will be taking on the club that sacked him last season.
Tottenham are still hoping to qualify for the Champions League, having slipped to eighth in the standings, four points behind fifth-placed Manchester United and seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
“It would be amazing if we all started with the same number of points, but that’s not the case,” Mourinho said when asked about a top-four finish.
“We start minus seven or eight from Chelsea, and minus 13 from Leicester, we start minus too many teams.
“It’s a great challenge and motivation. At the end of the nine matches we will see what we did and what the others did.”
The veteran Portuguese tactician added that game to be played on Friday behind closed doors feels similar to the first game of the season.
“Only when we are on the pitch in these new circumstances will the players be able to feel and us to analyse it, so let’s wait for tomorrow,” Mourinho said.
“After more than two decades in football it’s hard for me to say something is new, but this is a new.”
With IANS inputs