Harry Kane tells Tottenham team-mates they must ‘fix’ slow start to matches after Nottingham Forest scare

Matt Verri28 August 2022

Harry Kane admitted Tottenham were fortunate at times against Nottingham Forest as they battled to a 2-0 win.

Spurs maintained their unbeaten start to the season and moved up to third in the table, with Kane netting in either half to become the joint-third highest goalscorer in Premier League history.

The scoreline was not necessarily reflective of what happened at the City Ground though, as Forest dominated at times and the newly-promoted side were unfortunate to go into the break a goal behind.

It was a familiar tale for Tottenham, who were poor for large periods against Chelsea and Wolves in previous matches before Kane came to the rescue and dragged them to a result. The Spurs captain wants quicker starts from his side.

“We dropped deep in the first half which we’ve done a lot already this season and it’s taken us until the second half to get a bit of a wake-up call and be a bit more aggressive,” Kane said.

“We become better on the ball because of it. We got away with it in the first half being 1-0 up but it could easily have been a different story.

“It’s something we need to fix and quickly because we have a lot of games coming up in a short space of time so we can’t afford not to start the first half well.”

Kane opened the scoring inside five minutes before doubling his and Tottenham’s tally in the latter stages, but in between that he wasted the opportunity to dispatch a spot-kick.

The referee awarded the penalty after Steve Cook made the bizarre decision to palm away a cross as it came into the six-yard box, with Kane lurking behind ready to head home.

The Forest defender avoided a red card despite the VAR review that followed, much to the bemusement of Kane.

“If that isn’t denying a goalscoring opportunity, I don’t know what is,” Kane said of the incident.

“The game is over but I’m just really surprised by the decision. Thankfully, it didn’t matter in the end.”

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