Postecoglou confirms Tottenham defender will start vs Arsenal and makes Harry Kane admission

Ange Postecoglou admits he has been hard on his Tottenham Hotspur players after having to make sure they did not see any panic over Harry Kane's exit on the eve of this season.

The Australian lost Kane to Bayern Munich just a day or two before Spurs were due to open their campaign at Brentford. Many pundits and fans predicted that Tottenham would splutter and fall down the table without the talismanic club record goalscorer up front but going into Sunday's north London derby Postecoglou's fifth-placed side have scored more goals than at this stage last season and have the same amount of points as the previous campaign with six games remaining.

The Tottenham head coach was asked what he said to his players in the wake of Kane's departure with the striker having been such a huge figure at the club.

«I think that was sort of the starting point for us, because I was literally sitting in here [for my press conference] the day before the Brentford game and he’d just left. So you’re starting a season and the most significant person at this football club, maybe ever, has just left on the eve of the first game,» he said.

«I remember making a real conscious effort of… it's the old duck just looking really graceful above the water and if there's any panicking happening, make sure it's under the water where nobody can see, particularly the players. And the players never batted an eyelid — which they could have. Especially when you look at what Harry has done this year. It has been unbelievable.

»You just go 'gee, that’s a significant player that has left this football club and yet he hasn’t been mentioned as much as he would have been had we not been scoring goals'. His name would have come up a lot more. That’s credit to the group. The