Tottenham to learn extent of Harry Kane injury within the next 48 hours as problems mount for Jose Mourinho

Tottenham are facing an anxious wait to discover the extent of Harry Kane’s hamstring injury, with the England captain set for a scan in the next 48 hours.

Kane departed St Mary’s on crutches after pulling up while scoring from an offside position in the second half of Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Southampton.

He had left the field clutching his left hamstring and Spurs fear he could face a significant spell out. Jose Mourinho has no other senior strikers at his disposal, so 17-year-old Troy Parrott, Heung-Min Son or Lucas Moura could deputise in Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at Middlesbrough.

But Jan Vertonghen insisted Spurs have the squad to cope without Kane and criticised their approach yesterday, saying they were too quick to go direct in the first half.

“Harry is obviously a very important player for us,” said Vertonghen after Danny Ings’s goal left Spurs six points adrift of Chelsea in fourth.

“But we have the squad to cope without him. “First half we had to play more. There was the possibility to play, but we used long balls too quick.” Asked about Kane’s condition, Mourinho said: “Hamstring is always a negative. Is it tear? Is it a spasm? Is it a contraction? In this moment I cannot say.”

Spurs also lost Tanguy Ndombele to a recurrence of a groin problem after just 25 minutes and Mourinho could not hide his frustration with the club-record signing, who only returned at Norwich on December 28 after ruling himself out of the Boxing Day win over Brighton over fitness concerns.

“He is always injured,” Mourinho said of Ndombele, who has started just 10 of 21 League matches. “He plays one match, [then] the next week he is injured. Of course it is a concern.”

Regarding the trip to Teeside, Mourinho expects Eric Dier to have recovered from a virus, while Son will return after a three-match ban. If there was one positive for the manager, the injuries and performance may aid his attempts to lobby chairman Daniel Levy for money to spend this month.

Mourinho has insisted he is happy with his squad, but a fourth defeat in eight games laid bare the deficiencies. Spurs hope to find buyers for Christian Eriksen and Victor Wanyama, while Oliver Skipp could leave on loan. That would free up Mourinho to sign a holding midfielder or a playmaker, with Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes a target.