Kane facing battle to be fit for World Cup after injury news

Joe Williams

Harry Kane is set to be on the sidelines until May and could struggle to make the World Cup, according to reports.

The Tottenham striker was taken off in the first-half of their fixture against Bournemouth on Sunday with damaged ankle ligaments – the third he has suffered the same injury in 18 months.

Official confirmation is still yet to come from Spurs on the period of time that Kane will likely miss but the Daily Mirror claims that he will be ruled out until the end of April.

That would give him a limited amount of time to get match fit in time for the World Cup in Russia with very few fixtures before the end of the season.

On the first occasion he suffered the same injury he missed seven weeks – a similar period to the expected lay-off this time – in September 2016, while the second injury only ruled him out for three weeks.

Gareth Southgate is set to name his squad for this month’s international friendly matches against Holland and Italy, but Kane will be absent for both ahead of this summer’s showpiece.

Meanwhile, the report claims that he will miss four Premier League fixtures, Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final clash against Swansea and the semi-final if they beat Carlos Carvalhal’s outfit.