Harry Kane: Top-four finish not enough for Spurs, we should be winning trophies

Tottenham striker, who is out of contract next summer, says fans have every right to be frustrated after meek Champions League exit

Harry Kane and Tottenham were knocked out of the Champions League by AC Milan at the last-16 stage. Getty

Frustrated Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has said that finishing in the Premier League's top four is not enough and that the club should be winning trophies.

Spurs were knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage on Wednesday, when they lost 1-0 over two legs to Italian side AC Milan.

That came hot on the heels of a dismal FA Cup defeat to Championship side Sheffield United and a late loss at Wolves which saw Tottenham's grip on fourth place in the Premier League weakened.

The likelihood of manager Antonio Conte being in charge at the start of next season appears remote while the future of Kane – who has just become Spurs' all-time record goalscorer – is also now looking far from certain.

The 29-year-old England captain is out of contract next summer and has realistically one last chance to sign for an elite club in Europe that will guarantee him the chance to win regular trophies.

Asked whether a top-four finish is enough, he said: "I don't think so. Where we're at as a club, we should be winning trophies. That's always the aim.

"The top four [being our only target] is a consequence of not playing as well as we want to play. Now that's all we can fight for, so that's going to be the goal and hopefully we can achieve that come the end of the season.

"But for sure, it's not enough for this club.

Spurs 0 AC Milan 0: Player ratings

TOTTENHAM PLAYER RATINGS: Fraser Forster, 6 – Untested for the most part in what turned into a pretty drab affair, although he kept his side in the tie just after the break with a big save on Diaz. EPA

Cristian Romero, 2 – Lacked discipline. Picked up an avoidable booking when he opted to stop Leao in his tracks with brute force. He escaped without further punishment when he cynically fouled Diaz but saw red after clattering Hernandez. Getty

Clement Lenglet, 6 – Became the second man to rule himself out of the next round for a stray elbow into the back of Giroud’s head, although in the end it didn’t matter. A clean sheet against a decent side, but Milan barely had to leave second gear. Getty

Ben Davies, 5 – A couple of important interceptions from the Welshman, but he also put the ball straight out of play after miscontrolling Maignan’s punt forward. If anything summed up the evening, it was probably that. AP

Emerson Royal, 7 – Had Maignan scrambling when his deflected strike span towards the corner of the goal, but Tomori had taken the sting out of the shot. Took the ball off the head of Giroud with a vital flick on at the back post. Reuters

Oliver Skipp, 4 – Escaped an early yellow card for wrestling Leao who was looking to race away for the first time. Failed to inject any creativity on a dismal night for Spurs. Getty

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 4 –Like Skipp, he failed to produce a spark to get Spurs ticking in the middle in a passive performance. With that said, he tested Maignan for the first time with a powerful effort. Getty

Ivan Perisic, 4 – A sluggish performance from the Croatian who allowed Milan to recycle the ball after a poor cross stayed in play, and failed to prevent a well-worked set-piece from reaching Messias at the far post as the latter fired wide. EPA

Dejan Kulusevski, 5 – A disappointing first half that started brightly when he neatly turned the ball around the corner for Perisic but fizzled out. Provided a couple of teasing deliveries in a better second-half display, but he was still nowhere near his best. Getty

Son Heung-min, 4 – A quiet night from the usually tireless South Korea star, who won his side a corner with a deflected strike but offered little else. Admittedly he didn’t have much service to feed off, and he almost set up a dramatic equaliser when he found Kane late on. Getty

Harry Kane, 6 –. Opened Milan up for the first time when he charged forward and laid the ball off for Kulusevski. He found chances hard to come by after that, although he almost snatched an underserved lifeline when his stoppage-time header was brilliantly saved. Getty

Pedro Porro (Perisic 53'), 7 – Had a chance to make an almost instant impact, but he hit a poor free-kick straight into the wall from a promising area. He was full of energy in a decent display and he thwarted Tonali with a huge block. Getty

Davinson Sanchez (Kulusevski 53'), 6 – Replaced Kulusevski to a chorus of boos, which probably wasn’t how it wanted to mark his 200th appearance for Spurs. EPA

Richarlison (Emerson 69'), 4 – Should have been booked for checking Maignan and then grabbing the goalkeeper by the throat. Petulant behaviour when Spurs had a job to do. Reuters

AC MILAN PLAYER RATINGS: Mike Maignan, 8 – Untroubled by a couple of deflected strikes from Emerson and Kane in the first half. Produce a late wonder-save to deny the latter and ensure Milan progressed, but it was an otherwise quiet night for the Milan goalkeeper. Getty

Pierre Kalulu, 7 – Halted a promising Spurs counter with a calculated sliding challenge as the game entered the home straight and he got a vital connection on a dangerous cross with a white shirt lurking behind him. Reuters

Malick Thiaw, 7 – Untroubled for most of the night despite rising Tottenham pressure after the break. Effectively broke up the play when he took out Richarlison who was looking to play in Son and Milan escaped unscathed. AFP

Fikayo Tomori, 8 – Solid and reliable. Got an important body in the way of Emerson’s strike which allowed Maignan to smother, and he did a superb job on Kane to significantly blunt the Spurs attack. Getty

Junior Messias, 6 – Dragged a big chance horribly wide after a well-crafted move that caught Spurs napping, and he saw another opportunity go begging when he cut inside nicely only to blast miles over Forster’s crossbar. AFP

Rade Krunic, 6 – Had Milan cantering up the field before he was halted by Skipp as Milan started positively. Nullified the Tottenham midfield in a scrappy encounter. AFP

Sandro Tonali, 6 – Picked out Giroud with a lovely lofted ball over the top, but the forward’s overhead kick attempt was all wrong and failed to match the gloss of Tonali’s pass. Wasted a huge opportunity when he fired straight into Porro. AP

Theo Hernandez, 8 – Led by example. Scrapped for everything and made life difficult for the Spurs midfielders, although he wasted an early chance to pile on the pressure when his free-kick was far too deep. AFP

Brahim Diaz, 8 – Lively. Came to life after the break when he danced into the penalty area and forced a smart save from Forster, before winning a free-kick in a dangerous area after nutmegging Emerson. Getty

Rafael Leao, 7 – Always looked to be a dangerous outlet. Scuffed his best effort after the break after great work from Diaz but the latter should have scored after brilliant work from Leao moments later. Getty

Olivier Giroud, 6 – The former Arsenal and Chelsea man will have been hungry for a goal given the opposition. He forced Forster into action with an instinctive volley after good work from Leao, but otherwise he struggled for clear-cut chances. EPA

SUBS: Alexis Saelemaekers (Messias 56'), 6 – A decent outing from the substitute who made himself busy in the Milan midfield. AP

Ismael Bennacer (Diaz 81'), NR – Tested the gloves of Forster from distance as the minutes trickled down. Getty

Divock Origi (Giroud 81'), NR – The former Liverpool man broke Spurs' hearts in the Champions League final four years ago, and he almost did so again when his 94th-minute effort hammered the post. AP

Ante Rebic (Leao 89'), NR – A brief cameo for the experienced winger. Getty

"Top four [alone] is not good enough for anyone at this club, especially the fans. They have the right to voice their opinion.

"The last week especially just hasn't been good enough. Before the Sheffield United game, the season could have been a whole lot different.

"You go through there, you take that momentum into the league game [at Wolves] and this game. But I feel like that loss last week put a dagger in our hearts and as you can see we haven't really recovered from that."

Conte is out of contract in the summer and both parties are currently unlikely to want to extend their partnership, which would leave Spurs looking for their fifth manager since November 2019.

"That's his decision, he's going to be the one that makes that choice," Kane added. "All we can do as players is try to perform for him, work as hard as we can.

"That's what we're doing. I said after the Wolves game at the weekend, you can't fault the effort of the players.

"We're trying, we're training but we're just lacking something. We've talked about mentality before and that ruthless hunger to be better, to be the best, to be one of the best teams in Europe. We just haven't quite found that yet."

Spurs are back in Premier League action on Saturday when they take on Nottingham Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They sit fourth in the table, one place and three points ahead of Liverpool but the Merseyside club have a game on hand.