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Tottenham forward Harry Kane admits he is 'up there' with world's best after latest Premier League hat-trick

Harry Kane insists he is happy to be labelled one of the best strikers in the world by Mauricio Pochettino and believes his vital statistics back up the Tottenham Hotspur manager’s claim.

Striker Kane scored his third hat-trick in nine games and took his Premier League tally for the season to 17 goals in the 4-0 victory over Stoke City on Sunday.

The 23-year-old is the first Tottenham player to score 20 goals or more in all competitions for three successive seasons since Jimmy Greaves and Pochettino believes Kane is well on his way to becoming a Spurs legend.

Over the course of this season and the past two Premier League campaigns, since he became a regular starter for Tottenham, Kane has scored 63 league goals – more than any other player.

In Europe, Antoine Griezmann, who is valued at £85 million, has scored 10 fewer La Liga goals over the same period and only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have significantly better records. Kane outscored Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2014/15 and is on course to do so again this season, with the Swede coming out on top last term.

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So, according to Kane, it is not a big surprise that Pochettino, together with the majority of Tottenham fans, rate him as one of the best in the world.

“I feel that if you look at my stats, my goals, then I’m up there,” said Kane. “If you guys want to print that [I’m one of the best in the world], I’m more than happy to have that.

“Look, I just try to do my best. I like to score goals, obviously I will try to score as many as I can from now until the end of the season. I feel in good form.”

Kane was written off as a one-season wonder during his first season, but is now on course to retain the Premier League golden boot award.

“As a striker, you always want to win that,” he said. “There’s a lot of top strikers up there at the minute, I think I might be joint top now.

“Of course it would be brilliant to retain that golden boot, it’s up there in my house, I would like another one. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing, the team has to keep doing what we’re doing, keep winning games, and that’s the most important thing.”

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Asked if he feels he has proved the sceptics wrong, Kane replied: “Yeah, that motivates me. I know myself I will score goals. It’s nice to break that 20-goal mark again. Hopefully, I can continue to 25, 30. That’s always the aim, to get that. I think I’m on 22 now for the season. I’ve just got to continue and, hopefully, get as many as I can until the end.”

Making Kane’s scoring feats this season even more impressive is the fact he missed over six weeks through injury.

“I feel fresh, I feel sharp, I feel in good shape,” said Kane. “Of course that injury I had earlier in the season might have done me a bit of good, getting a bit more rest. I’ve had a good couple of months, so it’s important I continue that until the end of the season.”