Mauricio Pochettino has said he is still unable to assess the extent of Harry Kane’s ankle injury nearly a week after the striker was hurt.

Kane was forced to leave Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Sunderland last Sunday on a stretcher and Pochettino says that only next week will the full extent of the England striker’s injury be known. There was better news for Spurs’ other injury worries, with Eric Dier, Mousa Dembélé and Danny Rose possibly in contention for Saturday’s Premier League fixture at Middlesbrough.

“We don’t know when he will be back,” Pochettino said of Kane. “We need to assess every day. The ankle is still swollen so we need to wait. We will have another scan next week and then we can assess much better. We’ll know how long the recovery will be then.”

The manager was calm in his assessment of Kane’s situation and said the player was too. “We need to be positive, we cannot change the past,” Pochettino said. “Kane got an injury against Sunderland and we need to help him. We need to be positive about his recovery, but he is very positive about his recovery. He’s in a good mood and that’s very important. It’s important to have all the energy focused on being available as soon as possible.”

Dier and Dembélé were also forced off against Sunderland but Pochettino confirmed the news on the midfielders was less serious. “We’ll see today,” he said. “Dier and Dembélé and [long-term injury] Rose are very close to being available. I need to assess them in our final training session today. If not this weekend then Tuesday for the Champions League in Russia.”

Kane’s expected replacement in the Spurs side is Vincent Janssen. A £17m summer signing from AZ Alkmaar, Janssen has so far struggled in front of goal for Spurs but opened his account for the club in the midweek EFL Cup trouncing of Gillingham.

Pochettino believes that goal will give Janssen confidence but was also keen to deflect any pressure from the 22-year-old. “It’s always a team responsibility,” Pochettino said. “He needs to feel free to play, to help the team, to show his real skill. He needs only to play football.

“Yes it’s possible he’ll go [on a goalscoring run],” Pochettino went on. “He needs to feel confidence, to feel the net and it was good for him to score his first official goal. Now he has a great opportunity to start for the team.”