Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino admits he needs another striker

Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino admits he could do with buying another striker in the January transfer window to take some of the pressure off Harry Kane.

Spurs - fifth in the Premier League table, four points behind leaders Manchester City - failed to land a centre forward in the summer, despite making a series of bids for West Brom's Saido Berahino, leaving England international Kane to shoulder the burden almost single-handedly.

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Kane has played in all of Tottenham's 20 fixtures this season and started every game but two, coming off the bench in Europa League matches against Qarabag and Anderlecht.

After a slow start, Kane has now scored 10 goals this season including nine in his last seven appearances but Spurs' options are in short supply if the 22-year-old was to suffer an injury.

Pochettino has previously insisted that Heung-min Son, Clinton N'Jie, Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela could play up front, despite the quartet being more comfortable operating as attacking midfielders.

Kane has continued to impress despite his heavy workload but Pochettino has now conceded he may look to add to his attacking options in January.

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"We have offensive players who can play like Harry. There is Sonny or Chadli or Clinton - they can play like a striker," he said.

"But maybe it's true. I recognise they are not specifically strikers so maybe we will work to try to find such a player we can add in the next transfer window or in the summer to try to help the team.

"We are trying to follow players now, but it is very difficult. What is most important is that we do not rock the balance of the team. It is important we find someone who is very specific.

"For me, always you want to find a striker that scores a lot of goals and who has good physical condition, good characteristics, can press, work hard and is a nice guy too."

Berahino was Tottenham's number one target at the end of the summer but they failed to agree a fee with West Brom, who repeatedly made public their frustration regarding Spurs' bids.

Pochettino may get to see Berahino up close on Saturday, when his side face West Brom at The Hawthorns, but the Argentine played down suggestions the forward may raise his game against the team that tried to sign him.

"You never know because it is impossible to be in that player's mind," Pochettino added.

"West Brom have a lot of good players. You can't be more worried about some players because of rumours or what happened in the summer."

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