06 February 2023 , 18:00
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For Harry Kane it was very quickly business as usual after his entry into the goalscoring Hall of Fame.
He’d barely soaked up the adulation for breaking Jimmy Greaves’ record to become Tottenham ’s all-time record scorer, before the England captain was already looking at Leicester away. Kane's achievement was all the more impressive because he’d scored most of his goals in the toughest league in the world.
The brutal reality of that same league is that this season will be a failure if he can’t get Spurs into the top four.
Last month both Arsenal and Manchester City put them in their Premier League place to leave many believing it could be Europa League football for the north Londoners next season. So revenge over City won’t matter if Spurs can’t follow it up with a King Power win next weekend.
That said, Kane believes his goal has maintained a new standard that the players set for themselves in a team meeting after the Etihad debacle.
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"After the City away game when we conceded four in the second half, I spoke about how we had a chat amongst ourselves,” said Kane. “We spoke about getting back to what we're good at, being compact. We did that against Fulham away and we did that against City.
“That's the standard - if we can do it against one of the best teams in the league, we can do it against anyone. We need to try not to fall below those standards in any game.”
Harry Kane is now Tottenham's greatest ever goal scorer (Getty Images)Newcastle’s failure to beat West Ham last Saturday means Spurs now sit fifth, just a point off the top four. They’ve also kept clean sheets in each of their last three games, beating Preston to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
“Clean sheets are really important,” Kane added. “They win games. We feel like we've got enough firepower to score goals and from top to bottom we've got to make sure we keep the ball out of the net."
The tributes are continuing to flow for the marksman who first scored for Spurs against Shamrock Rovers way back in 2011. While City opted for Erling Haaland last summer after failing to land Kane two years ago, the Englishman has been hailed as the superior player because of his ability to offer more when the going gets tough.
Kane said: “It's always been a strong attribute of mine since I was young, understanding the game, different types of games and positions.
“When I was younger, I spent a lot of time playing in midfield, in defence, as a No.9. I think that really helped me with my development to understand different positions on the pitch.
“I feel like that's probably my strongest asset as a player, my brain. The more games I play, the more experience I get and I only get stronger. So I'm in a good place and wins like the one against City are really pleasing for me, the team as well.”