Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho has admitted to Football London that he really didn’t want Harry Kane playing for 60 minutes yesterday.
Kane was brought on just after half-time as Tottenham tried to rescue their game against Everton.
The striker, who has only just returned from injury, was only supposed to play for around 30 minutes.
However, with the score locked at 4-4 after 90 minutes – thanks to Kane’s late leveller – the Spurs striker ended up being out on the pitch for over an hour.
And Mourinho admitted that all did not go according to plan for the 27-year-old.
“Yeah, it’s true, but Harry played 60 and others they played 120,” Mourinho said, when asked if the last thing he wanted was Kane to play extra-time.
“Of course we didn’t want to go to extra-time and that’s what we tried to do during the 90 minutes was to win in 90 minutes.
“We showed that since minute one, we showed that when the score was 3-3. The guys they always try to win the match. That was the fantastic thing.”
Thankfully for Tottenham, Kane doesn’t seem to have suffered any ill affects from playing for longer than intended against Everton.
Kane was still walking fine at the end of the match, although he was unable to put Spurs into a winning position against Everton.
Tottenham went down 5-4 in extra-time at Goodison Park, after a tumultuous contest with plenty of twists and turns.
Spurs are next in action against Manchester City on Saturday, when Mourinho will be hoping that Kane is still fit enough to start.
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