Harry Kane will undergo surgery to repair the damage to his hamstring and has been ruled out by Tottenham until April. The striker, who was hurt in the 1-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year’s Day, had been left to expect the worst after scans last Friday revealed a serious tear. He knew that he would not be back until March at the earliest.

Lucas Moura salvages replay for Tottenham to deny Middlesbrough Read more

The reality has proved to be even more shocking – a setback to cast a shadow over Tottenham’s season and, in terms of the England team, far from ideal in the countdown to Euro 2020. Will the captain have the time to recover maximum sharpness before the tournament kicks off? England’s opening tie is against Croatia on 14 June. They play each of their three group ties at Wembley, which is also the venue for the semi-finals and final.

Tottenham announced on Thursday that Kane had suffered a ruptured tendon in the hamstring and, after further reviews, had been advised that an operation was the best course of action. It is unclear exactly when in April Kane will return. It might be noted that he has previously shown himself to be a quick healer after injuries.

“Following ongoing assessment by our medical staff over the past week, we can confirm that Harry Kane will undergo surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his left hamstring,” a Tottenham statement read. “The decision to undergo surgery is not expected to impact the timeframe that the England captain will be sidelined, with the expectation that he will return to training in April.”

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

José Mourinho, the Spurs manager, had been prepared to lose Kane for a significant period, saying last Friday that he expected “bad news” and, with no recognised, senior replacement centre-forward in the squad, the club will now push to make a signing in January. They have Milan’s Poland striker, Krzysztof Piatek, on their wishlist.

Mourinho is in the midst of an injury crisis, with Moussa Sissoko ruled out until mid-April at the earliest after knee ligament surgery and Hugo Lloris (elbow), Ben Davies (ankle), Danny Rose (muscular) and Tanguy Ndombele (groin) also out. Spurs face the Premier League leaders, Liverpool, at home on Saturday.