Harry Kane 'Facing Kyle Walker so soon will be strange, but Spurs are focused on exploiting City'

Harry Kane admits it will be strange to face Kyle Walker so soon after his move to Manchester City – but the Tottenham striker is looking forward to taking on the full-back and testing Pep Guardiola’s side in Nashville on Saturday.

Walker only completed his £50million transfer from Tottenham a fortnight ago, on July 14, but he is primed for an early reunion with his former team-mates as Spurs and City go head to head in the International Champions Cup on Saturday.

“It’s rare to play against someone so soon after they leave but it will be nice to see him and catch up,” said Kane. “Our main focus is on the whole Man City team and how we can exploit that and try to win.

“It’s not far from the start of the season so there won’t be too many changes [for either side] from now until then. But it will only be our third game and there’s still a lot of preparation to do, so you can’t read too much into [the result]. But I’m looking forward to it.

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“We’ve had two competitive games here and that’s what you want in pre-season. You don’t want friendlies where you go through the motions. You want to be in amongst it and that’s hopefully what it will be like on Saturday.”

There was certainly an edge to Tuesday night’s 3-2 defeat against Roma at the Red Bull Arena, in which Spurs fought back from 2-0 down in the final five minutes only to concede again immediately.

Kane found himself in the thick of a couple of confrontations, while Mauricio Pochettino had an altercation with the fourth official and was nearly sent to the stands.

“It was good to feel that [intensity], nice to get out there in a competitive game,” said Kane. “I thought we played a lot better in the second half, had a few chances, got back into the game. It’s just a shame there was a mad stoppage time.

“There’s still a lot to work out. We got caught out in the first half, weren’t playing well, but in the second half we changed it around, created some chances.

“The result isn’t massively important at this stage. It’s another run-out against a good side so there are positives to take.”

Kane has little need to impress during Tottenham’s tour of the USA – his place at the vanguard of the attack for the coming season is assured.

However, a number of youngsters are bidding to show their qualities and persuade Pochettino to give them game time when the real action gets under way.

Josh Onomah, Kyle Walker-Peters and Cameron Carter-Vickers have started both of the friendlies against Paris St Germain and Roma, while midfielder Tashan Oakley-Boothe has also had two run-outs and Anthony Georgiou impressed as a left wing-back in the second half of Tuesday’s clash.

“They’re settling in great and are trying to express themselves,” said Kane. “Anthony Georgiou came on and did great, looked lively, and Tashan, Josh, Harry [Winks] were stepping into those older roles.

“We have a great academy system at Spurs and anyone who comes up knows how we play, so they fit in very well.

“Are they ready to play in the first team? That’s down to the gaffer, but he’s always had the philosophy that if you’re good enough to play, you will play, so it’s down to the young lads to push in training and work as hard as they can, like I did when I was coming through.

“These are games where the gaffer’s looking for who he can trust. When I was a young lad in these games you looked to take your chance and do the best you can.”

Kane – arguably Tottenham’s most successful academy graduate – is happy to pass on tips from his own progress into the senior side.

“Obviously we spend a lot of time together so if they have questions or want to talk, ask about experiences, then they do that,” he said.

“It’s great for me, having come through the system, that I’m able to give something back to them. I know what it’s like. But most of them know what to do. They know what the manager’s like and what he wants. The main thing’s just working hard.

“You need to have self-belief and confidence in yourself, otherwise stepping into that big stage, you’ll be frightened.

“No matter what happens, if you give the ball away, if you have a bad game, the most important thing as a young player is making sure you run about and put a shift in.”

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