Erik Lamela sticks up for Harry Kane after Inter Milan defeat

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Erik Lamela has spoken in the defence of teammate Harry Kane after he went without a goal for the third game on the bounce. The England international broke his bizarre goalscoring duck in August by finding the scoresheet against Fulham and Manchester United but he has since been disappointing amid concerns regarding his fitness.

Speaking after the Champions League defeat to Inter Milan, Lamela defended the form of teammate Kane by stressing that the marksman could not be relied to score in every game. He added that everyone within the attacking department has the task of finding the net, provided they are offered the opportunity to get onto the playing field.

He said: “Harry is not a machine. He scores a lot. He always scores. Against Inter he didn’t and for two or three games he didn’t. But he will score again. It’s not like Harry needs to score every single game. Against Inter Christian scored, I scored [against Liverpool]. Sonny will score. Lucas will score. All the pressure is not on Harry. All the attacking players need to score. And that’s it.”

Kane made a bright start to the season with goals against Fulham and Manchester United and this witnessed him score for the first time during the month of August in his career. However, he has since struggled to come close to finding the breakthrough and this has coincided with Spurs’ losing run which has now extended to three matches across all competitions.

Tottenham Hotspur are presently positioned sixth in the Premier League standings with nine points and they have the opportunity to return to winning ways when they face Brighton & Hove Albion on the road this weekend. On the contrary, Spurs are also on the back foot in the Champions League after the defeat to Inter and their next home game against Barcelona may make or break their prospects of reaching the knockout stage.