'We made it harder than we needed to' - Harry Kane admits he was expecting a night off before hat-trick from the bench
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Updated 01/10/2021 at 08:02 GMT
Finding NS Mura a more spirited opposition than anticipated, Nuno Espirito Santo was forced to call upon both Kane and Heung-min Son from the bench. Kane rewarded his manager with a confidence-boosting hat-trick as Spurs eventually won by a comfortable 5-1 scoreline, a result that rather spared the blushes of the under-fire Nuno, whose starting side failed to put the game beyond doubt.
Kane hat-trick against Mura 'important for everybody' - Nuno
Harry Kane has admitted that he was expecting a night off before Nuno Espirito Santo was forced to call upon his star striker against NS Mura.
Having been spooked by an early second half goal by the Slovenian side, Nuno called on both Kane and Heung-min Son in Tottenham Hotspur's Europa Conference League encounter.
Kane put the game out of sight with a quick-fire hat-trick to spare the blushes of the under-fire Spurs manager.
The hat-trick will boost the confidence of a player who has looked out of sorts of late in a struggling side.
It was Kane's 16th career hat-trick, though the England captain suggested it was not one he expected to have the opportunity to score.
"We started the game really well, went two ahead, but we lost our way a little bit,” Kane explained to BT Sport
"We made it harder than we needed to. They scored a great goal. The momentum shifted in their favour. It was about coming on and doing a job for the team.
We hadn’t spoken about [me coming on]. It was all depending on how the game was going.
"It was nice to come off the bench and score a few goals.”
Lucas Moura also arrived alongside Kane and Son on the hour mark as Nuno was forced to deploy his three most potent forwards.
Youngster Dane Scarlett, 17, had started the game centrally in Kane's stead but struggled with the step-up in physicality, while Giovani Lo Celso again looked out of place and out of sorts before the changes.
Captain on the night Dele Alli also looked more comfortable after the changes after a patchy sixty minutes.
Kane hopes that the result can boost the club's confidence after a run of five games without a win in normal time.
Tottenham host Aston Villa on Sunday October 3.
“Us as players and staff need to stick together and work hard," Kane said. "Our recent form has not been great but we need to try to turn it round next game.
Every striker wants to score goals. I probably wasn’t expecting to come on today but it’s nice to get the minutes.
"Whenever you see the ball hit the back of the net it’s a good feeling. Hopefully we can take it into the weekend."
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