Jose Mourinho on how Tottenham will cope without ‘irreplaceable’ Harry Kane

The 26-year-old suffered a hamstring injury in the 1-0 defeat to Southampton on New Year’s Day

Jose Mourinho described star striker Harry Kane as “irreplaceable” following news that the England captain will be out until April with a torn hamstring.

The 26-year-old suffered the injury in the 1-0 defeat to Southampton on New Year’s Day and it was revealed on Thursday that he will need surgery, ruling him out for a number of months.

Tottenham Hotspur now host Liverpool without their captain Hugo Lloris or vice-captain Kane, making the task of beating the league-leaders even greater.

Speaking ahead of Saturday evening’s fixture, Spurs boss Mourinho said: “Harry is irreplaceable. There is no player who can take his place. It is surgery and a long, long time. You know that we cannot play like we normally play when Harry Kane is in the team. We cannot do it the same way as we do with Harry.”

The Portuguese went further, declaring he “would like to not speak about Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko until they are back, so let’s speak about them today because I know you are desperate to talk about them.

“If I speak too much about Harry, I get a bit depressed and then you are going to say he is miserable and in a bad mood.”

French midfielder Sissoko was also injured in the defeat to Southampton, as was summer signing Tanguy Ndombele – who is also ruled out of Saturday’s game.

However, Mourinho revealed that there was some good news regarding Hugo Lloris and Ben Davies, saying: “Lloris has not played a game for me. Ben has played one and did very, very well. It’s good news. By the end of the month we will have two new players.

“We have a goalkeeper that is doing his best and we have confidence in him but for Hugo to be back after such an important injury is good for him. One out of the medical department, others in.”

Elsewhere, Mourinho implied that summer spending is more likely than Spurs making a signing in the January window, saying: “If the boss [Chairman Daniel Levy] arrives with a solution for these difficult months then so be it. But if we don’t find the right opportunity or the right solution we are going to wait until summer to make a decision for the evolution of the team.”

The Spurs boss was also quizzed about a comment he made while he was a pundit covering Manchester United’s cash with Liverpool in October – when he said that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp “didn’t like the menu” United presented them in the 1-1 draw.

“In that moment I was not a football coach I was a pundit, I made that comment because I thought United did very well,” he responded.

“I have been in similar positions as Jurgen is now, when you are the best team and used to winning. United were in a difficult moment and you praise the guys [who stop it]. In that match [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer and the players did a very good job to almost win and I felt I had a responsibility to be protective of that.”