Staff Reporter.
Harry Kane has been named in Tottenham’s starting line-up for Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off – one day after announcing he was staying at the club “this summer”.
Kane was also named captain for the second leg with Pacos de Ferreira at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs trail the Portuguese side 1-0 after the first leg.
Manchester City were keen to sign Kane, who believed he had a gentleman’s agreement to leave Spurs this summer.
But chairman Daniel Levy has refused to enter into negotiations for the striker, 28.
England captain Kane played his first game of the season on Sunday, coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 win at Wolves.
Thursday’s game is the first time the England captain has started a match for Spurs since 23 May.
The winner of this tie will advance to the group stage of the Europa Conference League – Uefa’s new third-tier competition.
Kane did not feature in the first-leg loss in Portugal, for which Nuno made 11 changes, including a place in attack for 17-year-old striker Dane Scarlett.
Another teenager – Nile John – also made his first start for the club, with J’Neil Bennett and Maksim Paskotsi coming on for debuts.
Identical twins Michael and Matthew Craig, 18, were among the unused substitutes on an inexperienced bench.
Nuno also started three summer signings – defender Romero, winger Bryan Gil and goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini.
“This week is totally different,” said Nuno. “We are all together and this allows us to make different decisions.
“It is a must-win game and we need to decide it tomorrow.”
Pacos de Ferreira finished fifth in Portugal last season but, despite winning against Spurs last week, they have not made the best start to this campaign.
They lost 3-0 at Boavista before the first leg and were beaten 3-1 at home by Estoril on Monday.
In addition, they lost 1-0 in the away leg of the first qualifying round for the Europa Conference League, at Northern Irish side Larne, although they had won the first leg 4-0.