Harry Kane used an appropriate phrase to describe the motivation he felt earlier this campaign when questions were raised, after he did not score for the first four games, as to whether he was a one-season wonder. He said the talk “fuelled the fire in my belly”.

“There was a lot of talk at the start of the season,” the Tottenham Hotspur striker said. “It fuelled the fire in my belly to want to prove them wrong and I’ve gone and done that. It doesn’t stop here for me. It’s not a case of 'OK, I’m happy where I am’. I want to go and get more goals, create my chances for the team and do my best for Tottenham Hotspur.”

Fuelling “the fire in my belly” and “it doesn’t stop here” are phrases that could have come directly from the Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has created such an atmosphere of intense determination and a desire to improve within the squad – epitomised by Kane – that they are now breathing down the necks of Premier League leaders Leicester City.