Kane believes Spurs belong in the Champions League

Harry Kane says Tottenham belong in the Champions League and has warned his teammates to cut out the excuses and “take responsibility” for challenging for the top four.
Monday night’s 5-0 thrashing of Everton moved Spurs to within three points of fourth-placed Arsenal, and Antonio Conte afterwards challenged his players to finish in the top four – but said doing so would be like “our Champions League or Premier League title”.
Kane, who scored twice in another sublime performance, echoed his manager’s comments, saying the squad cannot keep making excuses for underperforming.
“I don’t think we can hide away from the fact [we are in the race for the top four] and we can’t keep saying, ‘We’re learning, we’re improving’,” Kane told Standard Sport.
“It’s always difficult when a new manager first comes in, he has to implement his ideas and the way he wants to play.
“He’s been here now for four months so we can’t use a new manager as an excuse. We have to take the responsibility for ourselves.
“The manager is a fantastic coach, I’ve said that now on many occasions. I really enjoy working with him, so it’s down to us players to take that responsibility.
“A lot of us want to be playing in the Champions League. We haven’t played in it now for a couple of years but it’s where we think the club should be.
“So there’s a lot of hard work to go. It’s not just about one result because we’ve had good results like last night’s this season already. It’s about putting together a run of four, five results in a row. Obviously we’ve got another tough game [at Manchester United] on Saturday. Overall, we have to take it in our stride and make sure we pick up points.”
Kane twice finished superb passes by the outstanding Matt Doherty and put pressure on Michael Keane, who turned into his own net for the opening goal.
Heung-min Son and substitute Sergio Reguilon finished Dejan Kulusevski passes either side of half-time, leaving Conte saying he was finally starting to “see my work” in his side.
Kane continued: “Games like last night will definitely help [us be more consistent]. It was a great game all round, with and without the ball.
“A lot of stuff we’ve been working on with the manager worked well. It’s about feeling that pressure. If we want to move forward as a team, it’s about taking responsibility and we can’t hide away from it.
“Obviously there are 12 games left now so there’s still a lot of opportunity to pick up points and it’s just down to being more consistent. That’s what we’ve got to try to do until the end of the season.”
Kane’s double took him to 176 top-flight goals, beyond Thierry Henry on the list of all-time Premier League top scorers and just one short of beleaguered Everton boss Frank Lampard, among the five players still ahead of the England captain.
Kane says working with Conte has improved his game and promised there is still more to come.
“I feel like I’m in a great place,” he said. “I’m 28 now, I feel like physically I’m in a really good place. I feel mentally, my game understanding and my awareness on the pitch is at a really high level from just gaining experience over the years.
“Antonio has definitely given me more strings to my bow. I’m always someone who tries to improve. When I’m 35, 36 I’ll still be trying to improve – that’s just my mindset. But for sure, I’m in a good place. It’s nice to be scoring goals, winning games, helping the team.
“Overall, it’s about working hard, keeping my head down. There’s always stuff I can improve on, whether it’s finishing, hold up play, passing. And that’s what I’ll continue to do. But for sure, I feel like there’s more and more to come. And I’m excited for that.”
(London Evening Standard)
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