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The Portuguese says Spurs will be counting on the England international as the fixture list starts to pile up heading towards the New Year
Jose Mourinho has dismissed the notion of granting Harry Kane a rest during the festive period, as Tottenham look to close the gap on their top-four rivals.
Kane has hit nine goals in 15 Premier League outings at the start of the 2019-20 campaign, which means he is now just eight short of the final tally he amassed last term.
He has continued to deliver in front of goal despite the fact that Spurs have endured a turbulent last few months on and off the pitch, with Mauricio Pochettino relieved of his managerial duties on November 21 after overseeing a dismal run of results.
Mourinho has managed to spark a turnaround in fortunes since stepping into the Argentine’s boots, winning four of his first six matches at the helm.
Tottenham are back in Premier League action on Sunday when they travel to Molineux to face Wolves , who are currently a point ahead of them in sixth.
They will then prepare to host Chelsea on December 22, which is the first of four fixtures they will have to negotiate leading up to New Year’s Day.
Kane remains Tottenham’s only natural centre-forward option at the moment – aside from teenage prospect Troy Parrott – with Mourinho adamant that he will not be rested at any point over the next couple of weeks.
He said: “It’s a sign of matches and matches. Am I going to give him a rest on December 26 as we have a match after two days?
“No, I’m not going to give [Kane] a rest. There are matches and matches.”
Mourinho left Kane out of his squad for a Champions League clash at Bayern Munich in midweek, which was essentially a dead rubber with both sides already safely through to the knockout stages.
He added on that kind of scenario being the only exception to the rule when it comes to selecting Kane: “The Munich match was one of these ones when the result was secondary, but when the result is fundamental… No.9 is Harry and Parrott.
“Parrott is a 17-year-old boy that played five minutes in the Premier League and we’ll give him more time.
“He needs more time to develop and so, yes, Harry is fundamental for us.”
Real Betis loanee Giovani Lo Celso was handed his first start under Mourinho in the 3-1 defeat at the Allianz Arena, but did little to stake a claim for a regular place in the starting XI.
The Tottenham boss went on to admit that the Argentine is still behind Dele Alli and Son Heung-min in the squad pecking order, but he plans to grant him plenty of minutes in upcoming matches.
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“It looks obvious the way Dele is playing, Sonny… At this moment they are one step ahead,” Mourinho said.
“I couldn’t hide from you that we have a few players one step ahead because of performance. So you want to be objective and ask if he starts Sunday? No, he doesn’t.
“He’s our player. Our squad is not a big squad in numbers, and he will start for sure because it’s impossible to play all the time with the same players.”
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