Tottenham vs West Ham: Harry Kane braced to return after Swansea cameo

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane is in line to return to the starting XI for the Premier League visit of West Ham United on Thursday [4 January] after making a cameo appearance in the win at Swansea City.

The England forward has been nursing a heavy cold since scoring a hat-trick in the 5-2 win over Southampton on Boxing Day, which saw him end 2017 with 53 goals in all competitions.

Kane was therefore left out from the start for Tottenham's trip to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea, a decision with paid dividends as his replacement Fernando Llorente marked his first top flight start for the north Londoners with the opening goals.

As the Swans threatened a late equaliser in Carlos Carvalhal's first home game in charge of the Premier League's bottom club, Kane came on for the final quarter and set up a decisive second for Dele Alli with a fine cross-field pass to secure a 2-0 success.

But manager Mauricio Pochettino says Kane will have a greater role to play come Thursday's visit of West Ham to Wembley as the Tottenham boss plans further rotation.

"We did well with him," Pochettino, who made five changes from the win over Saints, told Sky Sports. "We saw that it was difficult for him to run. But I think it was a good training session to prepare for the next game. We hope he goes well in the next 24 hours and can be ready to play against West Ham.

"He is a complete player. He not only scores goals but he can assist, play, build and hold the ball well. He is a very complete striker and I am happy because the 2-0 showed we were better. The three points was so important for us as we fight for the top four.

"In football it is always important to win. This game is in the past but we must use it to be strong and try and take the right decisions so give some freshness to the team and be ready again to fight. It will be a very important game against West Ham. Three points again will be massive."

While Kane was only on the bench due to illness, Danny Rose missed out with the recurrence of a knee problem while Mousa Dembele sat out the game due to a hip injury.

The other changes saw Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies recalled as Serge Aurier dropped to the bench, but Victor Wanyama did come on for his first Tottenham appearance since August after a knee complaint.