Harry Kane says Tottenham must ‘quickly’ fix sloppy trend that Conte ‘can’t afford’ to let linger

Harry Kane says Tottenham have to be more aggressive in the first half of matches to avoid their tactics getting away from them.

The England captain was speaking after Spurs’ 2-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The three points moved Antonio Conte’s men to 10 points from 12 this term.

And that has kept them in touch with fellow early-season high-flyers Arsenal and Manchester City.

Kane scored both goals at the City Ground, the first coming in the sixth minute. But Tottenham did not have it all their own way. In fact, Forest had 17 shots and more possession than their visitors.

Kane therefore lauded Tottenham for “grinding out” the win in difficult circumstances and against a lively away atmosphere.

“A good win first and foremost,” the 29-year-old said after the match. “It is a difficult place to come, the atmosphere is really, really good.

“We didn’t play our best and we know that but all in all we dug in.

“There have been a couple of games already like that this season but we got the three points and know we can get better. It is a long season and we are still grinding out wins when we are not at our best. That is important.”

Forest could have taken the lead in the first half, with Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris busy. Kane insisted Tottenham need to improve in the first half of matches.

While sitting back and then counter-attacking has brought them joy for a number of years, Kane added that the tactic can quickly run away from Spurs if they are not careful.

Harry Kane warns Tottenham about tactics

“We’ve done that in the first-half a lot this year and it’s kind of a wakeup call until the second half then we have to be more aggressive,” the England star said.

“Today, we got away with it in the first-half being 1-0 up, but it could’ve been a different story.

“For sure it’s something we need to fix and quickly, we’ve got games coming up so we can’t afford to not start the first halves well.”

Tottenham return to action on Wednesday when facing West Ham away from home.

Spurs march on in Premier League

The beauty for Spurs is that there are obvious problems to fix, but they are winning and picking up points all the while.

That is never a bad skill to have and is borne out of Conte’s desire to win and his know-how of winning the Premier League.

Indeed, he remarked last week that Tottenham would not have won their recent clash with Wolves if the same game played out last season.

The win over Forest is probably another example of that. However, the fact that Tottenham have won both matches is a sign of the progress manager Conte has instilled.

And Kane has been at the heart of it all, with four goals in four Premier League goals to start the campaign.