Son suffering but boss has 'Zero doubts’ he can turnform around

CRYSTAL PALACE v TOTTENHAM (8pm, Sky)

- Dan KilpatrickChief Football Correspondent

IN THE 18th minute of Tottenham’s miserable 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa on New Year’s Day, Heung-min Son ripped off his protective face mask and flung it to the sidelines.

Son had been playing in the mask since surgery on a fracture around his eye socket before the World Cup, but after five-and-a-bit appearances for club and country, and no goals, the South Korean had had enough.

His decision to risk a blow to the face was a stirring show of willingness to put his body on the line for Spurs, but also suggestive of a player who is desperately struggling to feel comfortable again on the pitch.

But far from releasing the Son of old, removing the constraint had no discernible impact on his performance, and for the 16th League game in 17, last season’s Golden Boot winner failed to score.

Ahead of tonight’s derby at Crystal Palace, there is no getting away from the fact that one of Europe’s most lethal forwards is utterly devoid of confidence and form.

Son has always been a labelled a streaky player, tending to hit form in bursts, but in the past even his quietest performances were typically punctuated by telling contributions in the final third.

This season, however, Son has scored in just two games — a lightning hat-trick against Leicester from the bench and a double in the Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt — and has just two assists, one against Brighton in October and the other all the way back on the opening day of the campaign.