text: Mauricio Pochettino believes Harry Kane and Ryan Mason have not been able to show the same level of consistency since they returned from England duty and hopes to see a big improvement when Spurs face Newcastle. Kane has been one of the stars of the Premier League, scoring 29 goals in all competitions for Tottenham, and is just one away from becoming their first player since Gary Lineker in 1992 to hit 30 goals in a season. The England forward has been nominated for both PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year. England call-up hurt the form of Harry Kane, according to his Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino . Pochettino believes that midfielder Ryan Mason has also been affected by the call-up . Mason has been one of the best young midfielders in England this season and has burst on to the international scene in his first full season in the top flight. But since being called into Roy Hodgson’s squad for the first time for the games against Lithuania and Italy, the duo have been well below their best as Spurs slumped to a goalless draw against Burnley and a shock 1-0 home defeat against Aston Villa last weekend. Pochettino said: ‘When players get their first call-up, they try to show they are good enough and try to impress the national manager, and because they are over-motivated they expend a lot of energy. ‘When you come back to the team, the consequence is that for two or three weeks you are a little bit down. It is normal and this happened at Southampton too. ‘I remember that we were third in the table and we went to play against Arsenal in November. If we won, with three points we’d have been first in the table. The performance wasn’t good. Why? Because we’d spent a lot of energy and it was difficult to keep our focus on the normal life. Pochettino hopes the pair can improve their standard of recent performances against Newcastle . Kane scored on his England debut after coming on as a substitute against Lithuania at Wembley last month . ‘I remember my first call-up for Argentina against Holland. I was up on a cloud for a month after it because it was unbelievable to play for the national team. When I got back to Espanyol it was difficult. I’d been away for 15 days with my national team and I came back and I said, “Oh, but now I play with Redondo, Batistuta...” You feel like a superstar and then you have to go back to Espanyol.’ Meanwhile, Pochettino has told supporters to judge him on where Tottenham finish next season. He added: ‘This season was one of transition. We brought a lot of young players, we got to a cup final at Wembley. Next season we need to build a team to fight for the top four.’
target: Mauricio Pochettino says Harry Kane has struggled since England debut .
  Also believes his team-mate Ryan Mason is suffering as well .
  21-year-old Kane has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season .