Harry Kane vows to get even better as young Tottenham swagger into top four

England striker has reached 30 goals for club and country this year but he's looking forward to next year to "get even better"

Harry Kane hailed “a very proud day” as he scored his ninth goal in 11 league matches to guide Tottenham Hotspur into the top four on his 100th appearance for the club.

“To score and win just makes it that little bit sweeter,” Kane, who struck Tottenham’s first goal after 40 minutes with Dele Alli adding a second less than three minutes later, said. In the calendar year, it means the 22-year-old has reached 30 goals for club and country.

“It’s a nice round number but it doesn’t stop here,” Kane said. “It’s been a fantastic year, I’ve loved every minute of it. But it doesn’t stop me working hard, I’m looking to next year now to be even better.”

Harry Kane beats Southampton's Virgil Van Dijk (left) to score Tottenham's first

Kane remains humble despite his achievements and readily acknowledges the achievements of the division’s other strikers, in particular Leicester’s Jamie Vardy.

“Jamie has been doing great, full credit to him. All the other strikers have been trying to keep up with him. He has set the standard high for us. I’m slowly sneaking up the goal tally.”

The result on Saturday means Spurs have lost just one game in 15 with the home defeat to Newcastle the only blot on their copy book this season. “Newcastle was probably the kick up the butt we needed,” Kane said. “Maybe we were getting a bit complacent.”

Mauricio Pochettino will be keen to guard against that with Spurs back in the Champions League places but admitted he was very proud of boasting the youngest squad in the division. He praised his “fantastic” and “brave” young players and admitted he has “special plans” to look after them over the Christmas period.

Kane takes the lead

Two of his team’s most prominent young players, Kane and Alli, scored the goals which lifted Spurs into the top four after victory at Southampton on Saturday and the Argentine is proud that the club boasts the league’s youngest squad. “It’s not about names, it’s about performance. The young deserve to play,” the former Saints manager said. “It is true that we believe and give them the facilities if they deserve to play. We need to be careful when they are younger.”

There were few signs of fatigue during the second half at St Mary’s when Spurs comfortably protected their two-goal first-half lead with their characteristic pressing and high-tempo passing, but Pochettino is planning to tailor his approach to training ahead of three games in nine days. “We have special plans for everyone,” he said. “In the way that we work with all the staff we try to carry them with individual plans for young and older players because every player needs different things.”

Probably the best: Dele Alli celebrates his goal

Southampton certainly need something different. An alarming run of form has left Ronald Koeman both angry and worried, feelings shared by the midfielder Victor Wanyama who has again been linked with Arsenal in recent weeks. “I don’t know what’s going on,” the Kenyan said.

“We let them score from nothing and it was unacceptable. At the moment it’s not working for us. We’ve had a lot of changes. The team needs to gel more.”

Tottenham transfer news: Spurs to bid again for West Brom striker Saido Berahino in January window

Spurs will make another attempt to sign the England U21 international, less than five months after bitter war of words between two clubs in last window.

Tottenham Hotspur are gearing up for another battle with West Bromwich Albion over Saido Berahino.

Spurs will make another attempt to sign the England Under-21 international in January, less than five months after the bitter war of words between the two clubs in the last transfer window.

West Brom rejected four offers for Berahino in the summer, including two on deadline day, with chairman Jeremy Peace criticising Spurs for their conduct throughout the saga.

Berahino has admitted to being keen on a move to Spurs

But despite the bad blood from the summer, Spurs are ready to reopen negotiations and will attempt to secure a deal if the clubs can finally agree a compromise on the price.

Spurs’s final offer was worth a potential £23 million after instalments, but Peace became increasingly frustrated over the proposed structure of the payments and called off the deal.

Berahino threatened to go on strike after his move to White Hart Lane was blocked, insisting he would never play for Peace again, and has since endured a difficult season.

Berahino threatened to go on strike after move to White Hart Lane was blocked

He has been on the bench for Tony Pulis for the last six games – even playing twice for West Brom’s U21s – and Spurs will argue that should be reflected in the transfer fee. Spurs could offer around £15 million and intend to make an offer quickly in January.

Relations between the two boardrooms are said to be healthy after the summer row, with Spurs playing Albion at the Hawthorns earlier this month. It is even thought the events of the summer were discussed amicably by Peace and Levy.

And it seems inevitable that Spurs will make a renewed attempt to strike a deal in the next few weeks after manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted the club is still searching for back-up to Harry Kane.

Tottenham are looking for back-up for Harry Kane

Chelsea and Manchester United have also scouted Berahino this season but Spurs remain the most likely Premier League club to make a move in the New Year.

Berahino is in line for his first Albion start since Oct 31 when the club faces Swansea on Boxing Day, with Salomon Rondon banned for three games following his dismissal in the 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.

Spurs, meanwhile, are continuing to monitor Birmingham’s highly-rated winger Demarai Gray, who is available for a fee of around £3.75 million in January.

Spurs continuing to monitor Birmingham's Demarai Gray (left)

Paul Mitchell, the club’s head of recruitment, made a personal check on Gray in Birmingham’s 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield earlier this month.

Gray, 19, has a clause in his contract which ensures his transfer value diminishes in each transfer window but Spurs are unlikely to step up their interest until the summer, preferring to focus on signing a new striker.

Spurs's 2-0 win at Southampton on Saturday moved them into the top four, above United on goal difference. Pochettino's squad face Norwich City at home on Boxing Day.

England Advent Day 22: Harry Kane's debut goal at Wembley.

When Harry Kane sits down to his Christmas dinner this year he will do so as an established England international and a top-class Premier League striker.

It is hard to imagine the 22-year-old feeling the same way this time 12 months ago. Back then he was making a Spurs first-team place his own, and although he was a key part of Gareth Southgate's England Under-21s squad, a senior call-up was a distant dream.

But the goals continued to flow and when in March Roy Hodgson selected for the Three Lions to face Lithuania at Wembley and Italy in Turin, he was eager to impress.

So keen, in fact, that he opened his goalscoring account against Lithuania after just 80 seconds, to the amazement and joy of the home fans under the arch.

He now has eight caps to his name – and three goals – impressing with his work-rate and calmness in front of goal.

Watch the goal below in our video player and re-live one of the best of 2015's England goals.

Tottenham ace Harry Kane sends goal message to Leicester hitman Jamie Vardy

TOTTENHAM star Harry Kane has warned Jamie Vardy that the Leicester striker hasn't secured the Premier League Golden Boot just yet.

 bagged his ninth league goal of the season and his 30th of the calendar year as Tottenham overcame Southampton 2-0 on Saturday.

The goal moved him one step closer to Vardy, who heads the scoring list with 15 strikes to his name - and the England international is determined to catch him.

The 22-year-old striker notched 21 league goals last term, but was beaten by to the award by Sergio Aguero and his 26 goals for Manchester City.

Kane said: "Jamie has been doing great, full credit to him. All the other strikers have been trying to keep up with him. He has set the standard high for us.

"There's a long way to go. As a striker you have to keep working hard and trying to improve.

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Sergio Aguero beat Harry Kane to the Golden Boot last season

"I'm slowly sneaking up the goal tally. 30 is a nice round number but it doesn't stop here.

"It's been a fantastic year, I've loved every minute of it but it doesn't stop me working hard, I'm looking to next year now to be even better."

Tottenham's Harry Kane vows to match Lionel Messi record - by scoring 21 goals against Norwich

Someone has told the Tottenham striker how he can match the world's best player - and Kane has promised to do just that.

For most Tottenham fans, Harry Kane is not merely the best footballer in England. He's not just the best footballer in Europe. He's not simply the best footballer ever .

In the eyes of many Spurs supporters, Harry Kane IS THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING WHO HAS EVER LIVED.

With that in mind, one particularly ardent follower of Mauricio Pochettino's boys has done a quick bit of mental arithmetic and figured out what needs to happen for the rest of the world to join the Kane love-in.

It's very simple. For the world to appreciate Kane the way White Hart Lane does, he needs to match the achievements of the very best: i.e. Lionel Messi.

Kane has already bagged himself a very impressive 30 goals in 2015. So… to equal what Messi has done this year:

21 goals? Really? Norwich don't have the Premier League's best defence, but they'reprobably not going to let him bang in 21 goals goals against them on Boxing Day.

That's not going to stop Kane giving it his best shot:

We're pretty sure he was joking. But given the love Spurs fans have for their main man, we would not be at all surprised if the White Hart Lane faithful genuinely believe their top boy ("He's One Of Our Own etc etc etc") might do it.