Tottenham v Aston Villa
Hugo Lloris is pleased to see a smile back on the face of Harry Kane ahead of an important week in Tottenham's season.
The England striker scored a hat-trick in the win at Bournemouth last weekend having only hit one goal over the rest of the campaign leading into the clash on the south coast.
Spurs welcome managerless Aston Villa to White Hart Lane on Monday night ahead of a vital Europa League clash with Anderlecht on Thursday and the small matter of a north London derby away to rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
Kane scored 31 goals for Tottenham last season and opened his Premier League account in a win at Villa and - since taking the match-ball home from Bournemouth - Spurs skipper Lloris is delighted for the 22-year-old.
"We talk about the situation," the goalkeeper told Tottenham's official website when asked about Kane's barren spell.
"It's not easy. He's really professional, he works hard and creates a lot but he was not rewarded for his effort for the team. Sometimes when you don't expect it you score a lot like at Bournemouth, where he scored a hat-trick.
"His confidence is back. He's still young, we all know his potential and his importance for the team and the club and we want to see Harry with a smile."
Mauricio Pochettino has praised the togetherness of his squad and believes they are a difficult team to beat - with Lloris also happy with the camaraderie at the club.
"We have a lot of honest guys in the squad with a great mentality so it's really easy to come into this team," he added.
"It's really positive. These players bring their skills but also their personality and mentality."
Midfielder Ryan Mason is in line for his first Tottenham start in six weeks against Villa.
The England international suffered a knee injury against Sunderland last month but came off the bench at Bournemouth last week.
Summer signing Son Heung-min (foot) remains absent as does Federico Fazio (hamstring) while ankle injuries keep Nabil Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli and Alex Pritchard sidelined.
Kevin MacDonald insists Aston Villa's revival must start immediately if they want to survive relegation.
The caretaker boss takes the Premier League's bottom side to Tottenham on Monday aiming to avoid a seventh straight defeat.
Villa sacked Tim Sherwood last week and are keen on appointing former Lyon boss Remi Garde as his replacement.
MacDonald, who was previously caretaker manager in 2010, has admitted Garde could be in the crowd at White Hart Lane and knows the struggling side - four points from the safety line - need quick results.
He said: "What we have to do, basically, is get more points than we have so far. It's not a case of changing it. It's a case of changing it to say 'we start again'. This is our first game of the season. We have 28 games in the season now.
"We need to get possibly 36-40 points. It's a big ask looking at the stats we have at the moment but we don't feel it's impossible to do. It has to start on Monday."
Micah Richards is awaiting the outcome of a Football Association investigation and could be banned for the Tottenham game.
The captain has admitted a charge of improper conduct following an incident in the tunnel after the 2-1 defeat to Swansea and the FA is set to decide his punishment.
Joleon Lescott is expected to make a comeback after missing Wednesday's 2-1 Capital One Cup defeat at Southampton through injury, while Idrissa Gana and Adama Traore should return to the squad as they were rested for the St Mary's trip.
Source: PAR
