Toby Alderweireld says Harry Kane looks back to his best in training ahead of the Premier League restart.
Kane underwent hamstring surgery on January 1 in a procedure that looked likely to rule him out of the majority - if not all - of the rest of Tottenham Hotspur's campaign.
Yet the coronavirus suspension has given Kane time to get fit and he is now back training ahead of Spurs' first game back, against Manchester United on Friday night.
Alderweireld says any fears that the long break may leave Kane rusty are unfounded and that the striker looks as good as ever in training.
"In training he looks fully fit, top fit, so we’re going to see the old Kane again," the defender told the Guardian. "He has been out for a longer period so his desire to show everyone is unbelievable, so you’re going to see a very good Kane."
With Spurs seven points off the top four, Friday's game against fifth-placed United is a vital one if they want to qualify for the Champions League, and Alderweireld is not playing down the importance of their remaining fixtures.
He said: "I know it’s a cliche but it’s nine games and we have to see it as nine finals
"We have to get good momentum and the first is a very big game. We are going to do everything we can to reach the top four."
A three-month break from competitive action is not ideal for professional footballers, but the 31-year-old revealed that Spurs players had made sure that the lay-off was approached differently to a summer holiday.
He said: "Everyone went into ‘beast mode’ – training, training.
"We didn’t know when we were going back. Maybe the week after, two weeks after.
"So people think we were on holiday but we sure weren’t.
"When we were back training we felt like: ‘I’m ready,’ not like in pre-season when it’s: ‘Oh, I have to start all over again, I feel muscle pain."
The centre-back has been the source of plenty of attention in his home town of Ekeren, near Antwerp, recently, after a petition was launched to put up a statue of him in place of King Leopold II, which was pulled down earlier this week after it was defaced and set on fire.
It prompted amusement from Alderweireld, who is not letting the attention go to his head.
"I was laughing," he said. "I thought it was some kind of joke, that people are actually signing the petition
"I have to say I’m a little bit honoured as well. It’s a small town in Belgium and until I was 15 I spent my youth there. I went to school there and I still go back.
"If they really wanted to I would never say no because I would be honoured, but I will not sign my own petition.
"Of all the people who have, I think about 80% are my friends."
