Saturday 5 January 2019 12:13, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says he brought "icon" Harry Kane on when Tottenham were 6-0 up against Tranmere out of "respect" for the FA Cup and fans of the League Two club.
The decision to use Kane as a 76th-minute substitute in the third-round tie at Prenton Park raised eyebrows ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports, and the Premier League clash with Manchester United five days later, also live on Sky Sports.
Kane completed the scoring in the 82nd minute following Fernando Llorente's hat-trick, two goals from Serge Aurier and another from Heung-Min Son.
Pochettino insists it was important to give the striker game-time despite the risk of injury with Tottenham fighting for trophies on four fronts.
"Like all the competitions, we take it very seriously," Pochettino said. "Of course sometimes you can win and sometimes you can lose, but always we are serious and respect the competition."
"It's important for him [Kane] to score and have 20 minutes playing football and for the team to get to the next stage of the FA Cup.
"It was an important fixture for the club. To be in four competitions is an important thing."
Pushed on whether the move to bring on Kane showed ruthlessness, Pochettino added: "It was respect.
"Respect the people, respect the opponent. They're not going to have many chances to see Harry Kane play here in a competition like the FA Cup.
"I think it was a great atmosphere. For different reasons I decided to make a change and put Kane on the pitch but one of them is that.
"It's important to show respect to the people here so they could see Harry Kane, who is an icon in English football. It is difficult in that division to see it. It was important to see him in action."
