Spurs not troubled by Harry Kane’s absence

A Lucas Moura hat-trick has helped entrench Spurs in the top-four of English Premier League with a 4-0 win over Huddersfield.

Lucas Moura celebrates scoring his second goal against Huddersfield. Picture: Getty Images.

Tottenham shrugged off the loss of Harry Kane as Lucas Moura stepped up with an English Premier League hat-trick in Spurs’ 4-0 win over Huddersfield, while Cardiff slipped closer to relegation with a 2-0 loss at Burnley.

Kane is expected to miss the rest of the season due to ankle ligament damage suffered in the 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final midweek.

Dele Alli was also sidelined with a broken hand, while manager Mauricio Pochettino took the chance to rest some other key personnel, including Son Heung-min, ahead of the second leg against City on Wednesday.

Moura took his chance to shine against the already relegated Terriers to show Pochettino he could be an important weapon in Kane’s absence as Spurs look to tie down a top-four finish.

“Players need to play to show their quality. The hat-trick is going to build his confidence,” said Pochettino.

Victor Wanyama opened the scoring on 24 minutes to allay any fears that Tottenham could suffer a Champions League hangover.

Moura made it 2-0 three minutes later and then struck twice more in the final three minutes as Pochettino’s men made it three wins from three at their impressive new 62,000 capacity home.

“It is going to be a very tough race. To score several goals is important. The goal difference can be decisive to achieve the top four at the end,” Pochettino said.

While the fight for top-four places look set to go down to the wire, the relegation battle could be all but over should Brighton beat Cardiff on Tuesday. The Welsh side are five points adrift of safety after a controversial loss at Turf Moor.

Chris Wood gave the hosts a halftime lead, but Cardiff were livid after referee Mike Dean overruled his assistant’s decision to give a penalty to the visitors after the break. Another Cardiff penalty appeal was turned down before Wood sealed the win in stoppage time.

“There were two handballs really, you only have to look at the player’s reaction — he looked so guilty,” said Cardiff manager Neil Warnock. “The second one we felt there was a movement of the hand towards the ball.”

Brighton remain catchable for Neil Warnock’s men as they succumbed to a humiliating 5-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

AFP