LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino says it is "crazy" to question Harry Kane's importance to Tottenham, claiming the striker is as influential for the club as Lionel Messi at Barcelona.
Kane, 23, will return to the squad for Saturday's Premier League match against Watford after a month injured with ankle ligament damage, but Pochettino says he is yet to decide if he will start the game.
Since he limped off against Millwall on March 12, Spurs have won all four matches and scored 13 goals -- five of which have come from Kane's replacement Son Heung-Min.
Asked if he Kane would have to fight for his place again, Pochettino said: "The question is crazy. You cannot doubt Harry Kane. Maybe the team is playing well but. ... You know, if we play Harry or don't play him from the beginning [against Watford], there is no doubt that Harry is one of the best players.
"It's like at Barcelona, if Messi is injured for a month but Barcelona are still winning and he's available again and them saying, 'I don't know, maybe we use different names.' There's no doubt Harry is one the best players we have."
Kane was expected to be out for at least six weeks but Pochettino added: "He's not surprised me. The players are always desperate to come back and [we need] to recognise the very job of all the medical staff and sports science to provide Harry the opportunity to be back as soon as possible.
"His mentality is always pushing for more, more, more. It's great news for us to have the possibility for Harry to count again. It's very, very good news.
"Friday was good. After training he was shooting, he was playing. You can see he's ready -- if I believe he is ready! When I ask him and I say, 'Oh Harry, I don't know if you're ready or not,' he says Harry, 'No, no, no I want to be involved.' I say 'no, you are not involved, your answer is wrong.' He says 'gaffer it's up to you, you're the manager, you decide.' Now, OK, yes if his answer is this, he is ready! Really his mentality is great."
Pochettino said that Spurs' form without Kane, who has scored 19 league goals this season, proved that the team is not reliant on the England forward, and reiterated that his players deserve more credit for what they achieved since he became manager.
"You start to realise that football is a collective matter and one man is not important. Yes, we have different types of players with different qualities and maybe my tastes about football is to pick one over another but football is collective. You cannot win without a good squad. The people may not agree, it's always tough," he said.
"Our challenge two-and-a-half years ago when we arrived at Tottenham was to close the gap to the top four. And the last two seasons we are in the top four. And we didn't spend too much time to change that reality. Not only the top four, last season we were the only season to fight to the end for the Premier League.
"The reality is that the only team fighting Chelsea is Tottenham again. It's true the treatment from the media [to me] is very good but the team deserves big praise.
"We came from a massive gap from fifth or sixth to now be involved in the top four and fighting for the league. It was a big step with not too much resources. If you compare us in the last few seasons with another team, maybe below us, you start to realise the job we have done here."