Tottenham defender confident that Kane will overcome World Cup setback and score plenty of goals for Spurs in the second half of the season.

Matt Doherty has expressed his belief that Harry Kane will shake off the disappointment of his World Cup penalty miss and return to form, scoring “a lot of goals” for Tottenham Hotspur. Kane’s late penalty miss against France, which saw England exit the World Cup in the quarter-finals, has been a bitter memory, but Doherty is certain that his close friend will bounce back stronger.

The Tottenham wing-back spoke positively after Kane unexpectedly visited the Spurs dressing room at half-time during their 1-1 friendly draw with Nice. Kane had been given time off following England’s World Cup exit and was not expected to return to club duty until later in the week. “Harry is absolutely fine,” Doherty reassured. “We all know his character, he’s one of the strongest personalities, so he’ll be absolutely fine.”

Doherty believes that setbacks like Kane’s can be used as fuel for improvement. “All players use negative experiences as motivation to be better,” he explained. “I think Harry will come back even stronger and score a lot of goals for us.”

While Kane’s focus has been on international duty, Doherty, along with Dejan Kulusevski, has been training under manager Antonio Conte’s rigorous regime. Kulusevski is also eager to see Kane back on the pitch, stating, “He’s absolutely going to help us a lot.”

Kane is expected to feature in Tottenham’s upcoming Premier League match against Brentford on Boxing Day. However, Argentina’s Cristian Romero, a key part of Spurs’ squad, will miss out after his World Cup triumph with Argentina, while goalkeeper Hugo Lloris’ availability remains uncertain. Ivan Perisic, who helped Croatia secure third place, is expected to return to training soon.

Doherty, who has been in excellent form during the break, is ready for the second half of the season, having scored in friendlies against Motherwell, Peterborough Under-21s, and Nice. “Physically, I’m in a very good place,” Doherty said. “I’ve got no injury concerns and I’m ready to attack the second half of the season. As a wing-back, I know how important it is to create and score goals.”