Football
Ben Pearce, Tottenham correspondent 5y

Tottenham's Harry Kane brushes off Neil Warnock accusations after Joe Ralls red card

Harry Kane has refuted Cardiff manager Neil Warnock's suggestion that he put pressure on referee Mike Dean to send off Joe Ralls at Wembley on Saturday.

Kane rushed over to confront Ralls after the visiting midfielder's cynical 58th-minute tackle on Lucas Moura, which was punished with a straight red card.

Warnock criticised Kane's conduct after Spurs' 1-0 victory, saying the striker was trying to "make an issue of it and get the referee to think it is worse than it is," adding: "I don't think you should try and get other pros sent off, just because he and Spurs are having a poor game."

Kane, however, does not believe he had any influence on Dean's decision.

"He's kicked one of our players knee-height and the ref said to me that the fourth official helped him out," said the Tottenham forward.

"I guess managers are going to get angry, it's part of the game. But at the end of the day their player has looked at our player and he's kicked him higher than he ever should, so for me it was a red card and the right decision."

Spurs have had a mixed campaign so far and lost three successive matches last month, while they are yet to pick up a point in their Champions League group.

Their fans would also have hoped for a more convincing home win over Cardiff, the Premier League's bottom side, on Saturday -- yet the north Londoners are only two points off the top of the table.

"We're in a good spot," said Kane. "We went through that spell where everyone thought it was the end of the world and we've come out the other side and we've done alright. We're not far off the top.

"It's like most seasons. We just stay calm and stay under the radar. Everyone talks about everyone else and we'll just see if we can go on a good run between now and Christmas, and we'll see where that puts us.

"Cardiff are a tough team, physical. It was a rainy day and the pitch wasn't as good as it normally is so it was one of those games where we just had to get over the line and we did that. It was a great clean sheet.

"It was a big win for us. That's six out of eight now [in the league]. Sometimes when you draw games it's a false perception and you feel like you're doing better than you are.

"We've lost two and it's kind of given us a kick up the bum and made us win our next three in the Premier League, so we've done well.

"These are teams that we probably should be beating so it's important that we carry this on after the international break."

While Kane drew a blank against Cardiff -- the only team he has failed to score against in the Premier League -- he has scored six goals in 10 matches for Spurs this season.

The latest of those strikes came in Wednesday's 4-2 defeat to Barcelona, when Lionel Messi upstaged Tottenham's talismanic forward by netting twice, setting up his side's other two goals and hitting the post twice.

"He was fantastic that night," said Kane. "We did well in the second half especially -- we had a great fight. But as I've said, him and [Cristiano] Ronaldo are the best two players in the world in my era since I've been watching football.

"It just inspires me to get even better because I scored but we didn't win, and I want to be on the side where I'm scoring goals and we're winning those games. It just motivates me to go one step further."

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