Thursday 19 March 2015 15:41, UK
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to have a chat with England boss Roy Hodgson about Harry Kane when the national squad train at Spurs' facilities next week.
Hodgson will bring his squad to Tottenham's training base near Enfield next Thursday ahead of their European Qualifier against Lithuania the following evening.
The visit will give Pochettino a chance to speak to Hodgson about how much the England manager plans to play Spurs' prize asset in that game and in the friendly against Italy the following Tuesday.
Tottenham's Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend are also in Hodgson's squad for the two matches.
It's a good opportunity to share a moment and chat and speak a little, not only about Harry Kane.
The 21-year-old Kane has earned his maiden senior call-up having scored 26 goals for Tottenham so far this season, establishing himself as the first-choice forward at White Hart Lane.
Pochettino said: "I'm happy for him [Kane] and congratulate him on his first call for the national team. Not only him, Andros and Kyle too."
Having represented Spurs across four competitions, Kane has already made 42 appearances over the course of the campaign and, with potential participation in the European U21 Championships in June, he could feature in around 60 games in total this season.
That leaves Pochettino fearing his top goalscorer could suffer from burn-out and the Argentinian confirmed he plans to make the most of the opportunity next week to chat to Hodgson.
"Always it is positive to speak with him," he said. "I think this is a good opportunity for us that day because they plan to train here. It's a good opportunity to share a moment and chat and speak a little, not only about Harry Kane, but about different aspects of football."
Asked if he thought Hodgson would be sympathetic to Pochettino's views on how Kane should be used by England, the Spurs boss said: "Always we try to find the best for the player.
"We need to understand everyone's position but I think we have a very good relationship, we need to give our opinion and after, take the decision together.
"He respects me and me, I have full respect for him."
But one Spurs man who was not included was Danny Rose who, despite Pochettino claiming he was the best English left-back in the league, was overlooked for Luke Shaw, Kieran Gibbs and Leighton Baines.
"Always it is Roy's decision, it does not surprise me," he said.
"I understand my place but always I have full respect for his decision. It's not about my opinion. You need to ask him why he picked different players and not Danny.
"I have not changed my opinion. For me he is the best English left-back and I don't change my opinion.
"About performance he showed he is the best but after it's Roy's opinion and his decision. I don't need to explain why but it's clear when you can see the performance from the start of the season Danny has showed, he is one of the best
left-backs in England."
Kane is likely to lead the line for Tottenham against bottom club Leicester on Saturday. Pochettino confirmed that, other than a knee injury for Roberto Soldado, he has a fully-fit squad to choose from when Nigel Pearson's Foxes visit White Hart Lane.
