Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has backed Vincent Janssen to succeed in the absence of star striker Harry Kane as Spurs prepare to face the rest of the season without their 24-goal striker.

Kane has scored a total of 19 goals in the league, 3 in the FA Cup and 2 in the Champions League this season. The hotshot striker has made only a total of 28 appearances this season and this makes his goal-scoring record even more impressive.

It certainly will be difficult for any team to manage without a huge source of goals, like Harry Kane and Pochettino acknowledges the fact. However, he believes Vincent Janssen can step up for Tottenham and fill the big boots of the English phenomenon.

The 22-year-old scored against Millwall last weekend, which was Janssen’s first from open play since joining Tottenham eight months ago. He failed to take his chance when Kane was out for seven weeks during the autumn as 10 appearances in that period yielded only only three goals – all from the penalty spot.

Ahead of Spurs’ Super Sunday clash with Southampton, Pochettino admitted that Janssen has experienced a difficult start in north London. He was quoted by Sky Sports:

“It’s true that in some period of the season his form was down. He needed a wake-up call to be reminded that the possibility of playing could arrive. He is very young. He came from Holland. I’m happy with him and all the players, but I understand they are not happy with some situations.

“He is okay, he is motivated, confident and feeling a little bit of relief after his first goal from open play and that is important. I am happy in the way that he trained this week too.”

Pochettino also said that his fringe players are all training hard, though he accepted that they cannot all play every weekend. He also insisted that they needed to be professional. He said:

“Players are training hard every day to try and find their best form, but every weekend they do not find too much possibility to play. Always we say they need to be professional, but they are only human and it is very tough to come in every day, it’s very complicated.”

Tottenham faithful will all be hoping that their 22-year old Dutchman will deliver in the club’s most crucial phase of the season, as they chase Chelsea for the league title and gear up for the final two hurdles in the FA Cup.

This would be the perfect time for Janssen to defy his critics and perform.