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Fernando Llorente has been deputising quite ably for Harry Kane since the England striker sustained an ankle ligament injury.

The former Swansea City striker has been thrown in at the deep end under Mauricio Pochettino and has done well, and he deserves the chance to play against Leicester City this weekend and earn his way into next week's clash with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

 On the chalkboard

The 6 foot 4 striker has had a divisive effect since coming into the team.

He scored an own goal against Fulham but also gave Spurs hope of progressing to the Carabao Cup final with an excellently taken header against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Pochettino's men, of course, lost on penalties.

He also scored against Watford, a late winner, to give the club a 2-1 victory having already provided a clever assist to Heung-Min Son for the South Korea international to level the scores.

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Llorente was also on hand to again give Son the chance to score next time out, chesting down a long ball that the winger lashed home against Newcastle United.

The 33-year-old is not the most elegant striker, and sometimes appears akin to a bull in a china shop, but he has the ability to change games and has been at the centre of Spurs' two most recent victories.

They face Leicester this weekend and rotation is likely, particularly with Dortmund to come on Wednesday.

Pochettino, though, should give Llorente the chance to earn his place against the German giants.

Kane fitness not guaranteed

The Sun report that Kane could be fit for the game against Dortmund.

It would mark a shocking turn of events, given that he was initially ruled out until March.

But the fitness of the England captain is far from guaranteed and is nothing to be trifled with by Pochettino, such is his history of ankle problems.

Playing Llorente against Leicester, then, is something of a low-risk, high-reward strategy.

Indeed, if he struggles to hit the back of the net, Son and Christian Eriksen can share the load, but if he gets on the goal trail, he will head into the game against Dortmund full of confidence.

Llorente is a completely different threat to Kane, and the Bundesliga giants may struggle to contain him - he should be given the right to prove that this weekend.