Tottenham made a statement of intent at Man United-Kane

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Harry Kane believes Tottenham made a statement of intent at Manchester United as the perennial slow starters continued their winning start to the season in some style.

After a frustrating first-half display on Monday evening, Mauricio Pochettino’s men kicked on to comprehensively end their Old Trafford drought and ratchet up the pressure on the hosts.

Kane’s superb header was complemented by a Lucas Moura brace in a 3-0 triumph that represents the biggest home defeat of Jose Mourinho’s managerial career and acts as quite the warning sign to Premier League rivals. You can read 16 Conclusions here.

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In recent years Spurs’ title tilts have been damaged by sluggish starts, but kicking off the campaign with three successive wins points towards an exciting season.

Asked if Monday’s victory at United was a statement of intent, Kane told Press Association Sport: “Yeah, 100 per cent.

“We’ve maybe fallen behind at the start of the season the last few years, so we have to stay up there from the very start.

“The only way to do that is to come here and win, and all the other big games as well.

“It’s been a great start for us. We’re not getting too carried away, of course, it’s only three games in, but that’s what we needed.

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“We needed to start the season well and now it’s about maintaining that for the rest of the year.”

Spurs’ start is all the more impressive given the fact their nine World Cup semi-finalists made late returns to training in a summer when Pochettino’s men did not make a single signing.

The lack of acquisitions could prove costly in the long run, but Kane says it has boosted the squad so far.

“The gaffer said he’s not just going to bring in players for the sake of it,” the Tottenham striker said.

“What that does is it gives the rest of the squad huge belief because it shows he has belief in us, so now we have to repay him for that and repay the club for that.

“Lucas is one of them that some fans might have thought ‘is he going to stay, is he going to go?’

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“He’s stayed, he’s worked hard and he’s done well and he’s deserved his place in the team and that’s what it’s about.

“He wants to keep his place and we all do. The competition for places is high and we’ve just to keep it going.”

A trip to Watford now awaits on Sunday, when goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will lead the side out as captain just as he did at Old Trafford days after being charged with drink-driving.

“Obviously he apologised to the team,” Kane said of the Tottenham captain. “He knows it wasn’t right what he did.

“Look, from my point of view, Hugo’s a very good guy, he works very hard, so it’s been put to bed from our point of view.

“Obviously he’ll have to deal with whatever comes his way from the law side of things, but he kept his head down, he apologised, worked hard and went out there and played well today.”

Lloris helped provide Tottenham with the platform to win after denying Romelu Lukaku moments after Kane opened the scoring.

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It was the 25-year-old’s second goal after ending his August hoodoo the previous week, with the striker continuing to show no signs of a World Cup hangover in front of England manager Gareth Southgate.

“I think physically, I’ve said before, you’ve got to stay fit all-year round nowadays just because of the standard of the Premier League and the Champions League,” Kane added.

“It’s always mentally can you get that rest, and I feel good, I feel fine.

“The gaffer is very good at managing that, so if he ever sees me or any of the other players at the World Cup maybe need a mental rest, he might give us a few days off here and there.

“Like I said, it’s just the job of a professional footballer now. You’ve got to be ready to go all-year round.”

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