Harry Kane has claimed that his injury absence had the hidden benefit of giving his body a rest following an extraordinarily demanding sequence of 122 matches for club and country in the past two years.

Ankle ligament damage sustained during the 1-0 win against Sunderland on Sept 18 had ruled Kane out until Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal but he scored with a penalty on his comeback to help secure a 1-1 draw.

At the age of only 23, there had been concerns at the load on Kane as the starting striker for both Tottenham and England but an enforced seven-week lay-off may just have protected other fatigued parts of his body. He was immediately called up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad and is in contention to start on Friday night against Scotland.