Rio Ferdinand told BT Sport during their live coverage of Tottenham’s win against West Brom on Sunday that Harry Kane has to stay ‘100% fit’ if they want to secure a top-four finish this season.
The former Premier League defender also interestingly claimed Jose Mourinho would have told his Tottenham players, after their weekend win, that the fixture list coming up is ‘a little easier’ than before.
This despite Everton in the FA Cup, leaders Man City in the league, Europa League and European-chasing West Ham to come in the forthcoming weeks.
Spurs were slumped to the floor in midweek after Chelsea secured a pretty comfortable 1-0 win, but they recovered by seeing past Sam Allardyce’s men.
Ferdinand was asked to share his thoughts on Tottenham’s top-four chances and what Mourinho will be telling his players.
“Kane has to stay fit 100%,” said Ferdinand. “We have seen that. The difference in morale. The difference in the ambience around the place from midweek against Chelsea to West Brom tells you that confidence is a huge factor in this.
“If they can remain confident. If they can remain consistent then they are going to have a chance.
“I think Mourinho he was speaking there. They are in competitions. They are in a final. They are looking up at people now.
“Their fixture list may seem a little easier than what it did before they got some of the big games out of the way, so I think he’s going to be throwing that in the changing room to breed some confidence to move this team forward.”
The big worry for Tottenham fans will be trying to keep Kane out of the treatment room, especially with the heavy fixture load coming up.
From FA Cup games, Premier League matches and the Europa League, it’s going to be seriously tough on those ankles.
But if he can come through it then it wouldn’t be a surprise if Spurs surge up the Premier League table and into the next round of both the Europa League and FA Cup.
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