Soccer

Harry Kane may be out for two months with ankle injury

England striker went off on stretcher during Spurs win over Sunderland on Sunday

Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur is put onto a stretcher after coming off injured during the Premier League match between Spurs and Sunderland at White Hart Lane. Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Dominic Fifield
Tue Sept 20 2016 - 08:34

Tottenham Hotspur are awaiting the results of a second scan on Harry Kane’s ankle amid fears the England striker may have sustained ligament damage -during the victory against Sunderland on Sunday, an injury that could sideline him for up to two months.

Kane, who scored the only goal of the game, fell awkwardly and twisted the joint late on and departed the stadium on crutches and wearing a protective boot on his right foot. Mauricio Pochettino conceded post-match that the player may have sustained ligament damage, with tests undertaken yesterday. The results of a first scan at least reassured Spurs that the 23-year-old had not broken a bone.

However, there are concerns that Kane has sustained grade-two ligament -damage, which would normally require six to eight weeks of rehabilitation. Should the second scan confirm as much the striker would miss the Champions League games against CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen and, among the seven Premier League fixtures within the timescale, key contests against Manchester City, Leicester City and Arsenal. The north London derby is on November 6th, towards the end of the normal recovery period.

While Spurs signed Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar this summer, potentially to relieve the burden placed on Kane over the last few years, the player has yet to score in six appearances for the Premier League club, despite his prolific record in Dutch football. There would be an impact, too, on Sam Allardyce’s England team, given Kane would miss next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia, and the eagerly anticipated visit of Scotland to Wembley on 11 November.

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Should the scan reveal only grade-one damage then Tottenham would anticipate the absence of the player for closer to 10 days. That would represent good news. A grade-three tear would represent a more serious scenario and a four-month rehabilitation, although Spurs are hopeful the forward has escaped that level of damage.

Mousa Dembélé and Eric Dier limped out of the win on Sunday with cramp in their hamstrings. Dele Alli, who completed the game, has extended his contract through to 2022.

(Guardian service)