Tottenham’s Harry Kane: ‘Playing for Millwall turned me into a man and I had a great time there’

Harry Kane has thanked Millwall for turning him from a boy into a man.

In Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final at White Hart Lane, the Tottenham striker is expected to come up against the club where he spent four months on loan during the second half of the 2011-12 season.

Kane scored nine times in 27 appearances for the Lions, who were then in the Championship, and the 23-year-old has gone on to become one of the most effective strikers in Europe.

With 19 goals this season, he is on course to retain the Premier League golden boot and has passed 20 goals in all competitions in each of the last three campaigns — the first Tottenham player to do so since Jimmy Greaves.

Before breaking through at Spurs, Kane also had loan stints at Leyton Orient, Norwich and Leicester, but he insists: “I had a great time at Millwall. I enjoyed my loan spell there, which was a big part of my development. I was 18 at the time, playing in the Championship.

“We were in a relegation battle and it probably turned me into a man, really. I was playing in difficult, high-pressure games and I managed to come out of it positively. It will be interesting to play them again. A lot has changed since I left, but I’m looking forward to Sunday.”

Kane has spoken before about the goal he scored for Millwall in a 1-0 win over Portsmouth in April 2012, which was vital to their successful survival bid.

In an interview with Standard Sport in March 2015, he said: “I’ll never forget it. The relief on everyone’s faces — the players, the fans. It showed me how much the game could mean. People were playing for their livelihoods and, had they been relegated, it would have been a big downer for the club.”

Meanwhile, Brent Council are due to make their recommendation next week on whether its planning committee should grant Wembley’s request to increase the number of full capacity events at the national stadium between August 1 this year and July 31, 2018. If the application is successful, it would allow Tottenham full use of Wembley’s 90,000 capacity for all home matches next season.