Talksport pundit Ally McCoist has criticised Tottenham striker Harry Kane for his “daft and needless” decision making which led to his serious ankle injury suffered against Manchester City.

The English hitman looks to be out of action for the rest of the season after the Lilywhites confirmed he had once again picked up ligament damage when challenging for the ball in the Champions League clash and McCoist insisted it was the 25-year-old’s own fault he is on the sidelines – and it is something that the striker must learn from if he wants to avoid future frustrations.

What has been said?

Having seen Kane hobble off against City, McCoist was very critical of how the Spurs man was left rushing into what he deemed to be a “needless” tackle against Fabian Delph.

He told Talksport: “Do you know the disappointing thing about the whole thing, it was a needless challenge.

“There’s nothing else than when you get an injury, you look back at the challenge and think: ‘Why did I… what was I thinking about?’

“Delph clearly comes in and catches him, through no fault of his own but I just thought it was a daft and needless challenge and sadly he’s paying the penalty for it.”

https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1116592031709696000

You can be sure that Kane did not see his challenge as needless at the time – after all, even the smallest of margins can win you a game in the Champions League – but he will be looking back on the decision with great regret.

It has ended up with him suffering another serious ankle problem and considering his past issues with similar injuries, it will start to be a serious concern for the Spurs ace.

What needs to be done?

Simply put, Kane needs to protect his ankles and if that means avoiding 50/50 challenges when he eventually returns from his current layoff, so be it.

A change of approach might leave him losing that defensive edge as a striker, as he is currently someone who chases down lost causes and competes with defenders to win the ball back, but with his injury record he cannot afford to be taking that risk.

He faces a frustrating future plagued by issues if he does not take the initiative and puts himself in a position where he is less likely to pick up a problem – whether he does that or not is another matter entirely.