Tottenham interim head coach Ryan Mason does not yet know whether Harry Kane will be fit for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Kane, who is close friends with Mason, injured his ankle during Friday’s 2-2 draw at Everton and has been undergoing treatment.
Spurs confirmed on Tuesday morning that Mason will be in charge until the end of the season following Monday’s sacking of Jose Mourinho, and just over three hours later he was on media duties ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League game against Southampton.
“I am not sure currently, he didn’t train (on Tuesday),” the 29-year-old said. “We are taking it day by day. We are not sure about the weekend yet, but we know he is working extremely hard to get over this injury.”
Mourinho was relieved of his duties following a disappointing run of form which has seen the north London club drop out of the race for the Premier League top four.
Mason, the former Spurs and Hull midfielder who was forced to retire from playing in 2018, steps up from his role as head of player development at the club.
Chris Powell and Nigel Gibbs will assist him, while Ledley King stays on as a first-team coach and former goalkeeper Michel Vorm returns to the club as a goalkeeping coach.
Mason is thrown in at the deep end with a first game against the Saints on Wednesday, before leading his boyhood club out for the Wembley showpiece against Manchester City.
Chairman Daniel Levy said on the club’s website: “We have great belief in this squad of talented players.
“We have a cup final and six Premier League games ahead of us and we shall now focus all our energies on achieving a strong finish to the season.”
After joining the club as an eight-year-old, Mason played 70 times for Spurs between 2008 and 2016 before moving to Hull.
However, just six months into his stay at the Tigers he suffered a fractured skull that eventually forced him to retire 12 months later.
He returned to Spurs soon after in a coaching capacity and was named as the club’s head of player development in summer 2019.
