Tottenham vs Crystal Palace: Harry Kane points to Spurs' 'great core' as reasons to be cheerful at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Crystal Palace 0: Victor Wanyama headed the 82nd minute winner as Spurs secured their first victory of the season
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Your support makes all the difference.Harry Kane believes the experience of last season’s faltering title challenge will strengthen Tottenham’s bid to improve on their third-place finish.
The forward admitted to a feeling of relief following a first victory of the season that ended a run of five league games without a win that stretched back to last April when Mauricio Pochettino’s side still harboured hopes of catching Leicester City at the head of the table.
Unlike some of their rivals, the north London club did not react to disappointment by recruiting high-profile names and Kane believes a low-key summer confirms the quality of the existing group of players. Only two major signings have so far been made and both contributed significantly on Saturday with Victor Wanyama heading the 82nd minute winner and Vincent Janssen showing the potential of playing a second forward and allowing Kane to adopt a deeper role.
“Teams that buy a lot of players feel they need to change something in their team,” said the England forward. “The manager has obviously felt we don't have to change too much. We have got a great core here, a great squad so let the talk be on anyone else like it was similar to last year and we will just keep doing what we are doing and try and win games.
“Of course the manager has brought a couple of great signings in. You saw today one of them scoring and the other playing very well so we have got a great team bond together.
“We went through a lot last year, highs and lows so we have got that in our locker. We have got that experience together. The gaffer has created family atmosphere here, a brotherhood in between the players and we stuck together and we will do that all season and hopefully improve on last season.”
Alan Pardew, the Crystal Palace manager, faces more testing problems with his side still looking for a first point and first goal. Christin Benteke’s £27 million arrival from Liverpool should help in both respects and the forward may briefly feature against Blackpool tomorrow but Damien Delaney, the centre-back, warned against placing too much expectation on the shoulders of the Belgium international.
“We’re not signing Messi – he’s a good player but he’s not a player who is going to get the ball and make things happen,” said Delaney. “So we’ve got to work on the midfield, wide players, defenders and full-backs to ensure we give him better service.
“He’ll bring a presence, for sure. I’ve played against him he’s definitely a handful. We’ve got Connor Wickham as well so we have two very good centre forwards. Now it’s time we stopped talking about things and started winning games.”
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