HARRY KANE has been backed to make an instant return for Tottenham at Brentford on Boxing Day to help put his England penalty agony behind him.
The Three Lions skipper, 29, returned to Spurs training today – 12 days on from ballooning a spot-kick over the bar against France in the World Cup quarter-final.
He had been allowed three days extra off by his club compared to international colleague Eric Dier as, unlike the defender, Kane started every game in Qatar and to help with the mental toll of his role in England’s heartbreaking exit.
But Kane surprised team-mates on Wednesday night by turning up at half-time during Spurs 1-1 friendly draw with Nice.
He looked to be in good spirits wrapped up warm in a black hoodie and woolly hat in the bowels of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And team-mate Dejan Kulusevski reckons England’s joint-record scorer will now be itching to play against the Bees on Monday despite the quick turnaround.
The Swede, 22, said: “I can’t wait to play with him.
“I was surprised he came to the game against Nice. I thought he was coming back on Friday, so it was good to see him back in the game now.
“I honestly think that every player would like to play [against Brentford], because when you’re there and you see your team-mates play… even [in a friendly like Nice] I think it hurts.
“Always you want to be on the pitch. You want to help your team so I think he wants to play absolutely.”
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Kane was in the starting line-up for all five of England’s games in Qatar, coming off only against Iran and Wales once the victories were assured.
He will likely have been agonising about that failed penalty against eventual finalists France ever since it happened.
But just as probable will be a desire to start to exorcise those demons as soon as possible, perhaps beginning at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium.
Antonio Conte’s need for him may be greater than normal too, with understudy Richarlison likely to be out with a hamstring injury picked up playing for Brazil.
Wing-back Matt Doherty is one of Kane’s closest mates in the Spurs squad and the Irishman has no concerns about the state of his pal after England’s traumatic exit.
The ex-Wolves man, 30, added: “Harry is absolutely fine. We all know his character, he’s one of the strongest characters we know. He’ll be absolutely fine.
“He came in at half-time against Nice. It was unexpected. We didn’t know. We’re obviously close friends. It was good to have him back.
“I think all players use the negative times as a learning curve as a way to motivate them to be better.
“I don’t think it will be just for his case, I think a lot of people will be that way.
“For us, we want him to come back and be the best version of himself which he has been for most of the season so far.
“I don’t think we’ve got any questions about how he’s going to return.
“I think he’s going to come back pretty good and I think he’s going to score a lot of goals for us and win us a lot of games.”
