HARRY KANE could return from injury much earlier than expected, according to Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
The England man, 23, is one of five Spurs players missing for Tuesday’s crunch Champions League clash against CSKA Moscow.
Kane sustained an ankle ligament injury against Sunderland eight days ago and has been left out of the trip to Russia, along with key men Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier, Danny Rose and Moussa Sissoko.
Dembele, Dier and Rose are all recovering from hamstring problems while Sissoko is being treated for concussion after taking a bang to the head against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
It means Spurs are under-strength for their crucial test in Moscow, but manager Pochettino said there were reasons to be positive.
Kane was initially feared to be facing around eight weeks on the sidelines but it is understood it could now be closer to six now, raising hopes he could play in the north London derby against Arsenal on November 6.
Pochettino said: “Half an hour ago, we received the information about the scan. It’s much, much better than we expected.
“We are happy, it was very positive, the scan. We’re very, very happy about this news but still we cannot give a time of how long it’ll be to recover.
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“I am not a doctor, it’s hard to say one, two, three weeks, but it’s much, much better than we expected.”
If Kane were to recover in time for Arsenal, he may also be in contention for England’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland on November 11.
Tottenham will have to do without their star man in the brand new CSKA Arena, however, where they are looking to register their first point in Group E following an opening defeat to Monaco at Wembley.
This will also be the first time an English club has played in Russia since violence erupted among fans of the two countries this summer at Euro 2016.
Only around 250 Spurs supporters have bought tickets for the game and Spurs have advised them not to show team colours, flags or banners until inside the stadium.
CSKA manager Leonid Slutsky was Russia's coach during this summer's European Championships but he is confident there will be no repeat of the trouble in France.
And he said: "I believe that those English fans who come to Moscow to support their favourites will enjoy a high level of hospitality, not only at the stadium but everywhere.
"I'm confident that they're in no danger. They have no reasons for fears."
CSKA are a point ahead of Tottenham in the group after they drew 2-2 in their opening game at Bayer Leverkusen.
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