Tottenham fans must wrack their brains back to life before Harry Kane to remember a time when goals were this hard to summon. Not since Nov 2013 - five months before his first Premier League strike - have the club previously drawn three blanks on the bounce.

Dele Alli, still finding his feet at Milton Keynes Dons in those days, has never known anything like it. No wonder, then, that he cited more optimistic times to quell the grumbles following the 0-0 draw at Watford on Saturday - a third match without a goal in four winless league games since Kane's injury.

"People always have short term memories," said Alli, reminding supporters that this team was not so different than the one that had progressed to a Champions League final without their main man. "Look at when he got injured last time. Look what we did without him. We proved that it's about the team, not a single player. Harry is a fantastic player and he would be a miss to anyone."

Alli was one of the main culprits on Saturday, having missed a gilt-edged chance by heading over from eight yards, but his insistence that Kane's absence - "I don't think it's an issue" - is not being felt will fall on deaf ears with Tottenham's recruitment department. Brokering will surely intensify this week for a temporary replacement as time runs out in January's transfer window.