Warnock was unable to land Kane

04 December 2014 11:16

Neil Warnock has revealed he failed in a bid to bring Tottenham striker Harry Kane to Crystal Palace at the start of the season.

The Eagles boss takes his side to White Hart Lane on Saturday to face a Spurs team buoyed by the goals of Kane so far this campaign.

The England Under-21 international has struck 11 goals for Mauricio Pochettino's men but has only established himself in Tottenham's Premier League side in the last month.

Until then he was used sparingly as a substitute and restricted to playing a key role in the Europa League group stages - the main reason Warnock felt a loan move for Kane never got off the ground.

"I tried to get him a few times when I came here," the 66-year-old said.

"He is a good lad and you know what you are going to get with him. He is an exciting player. His first thought when he gets the ball is positive and I like players like that, who commit defenders. He obviously enjoys it, you can tell by the smile on his face. He is a good asset.

"At the time, he was not involved and we felt there was a chance of getting him on loan. But unfortunately they were in that horrible cup on a Thursday night."

Kane came close to breaking the deadlock as Spurs lost 3-0 at league leaders Chelsea on Wednesday night and is likely to retain his place for the visit of Palace, who also go into the contest on the back of a defeat having slipped to a 1-0 reverse at home to Aston Villa.

Midfielder Joe Ledley missed that game with a hip problem and is a doubt for the trip to Tottenham - as is defender Damien Delaney.

Warnock admitted he has already drawn up a list of January transfer targets and, having missed out on Kane, it is a forward - with Andy Johnson and Kevin Doyle injured and Dwight Gayle replaced at half-time against Villa through illness - that he hopes to bring in.

"I think we know we haven't got enough fire-power," he added.

"When you look at the other teams they have all got main strikers to select from. I think the lads are doing as well as they can. We do need improvement in that area and we are looking to address that in January."

Source: PA