Ryan Mason admits he thought he would be in the prime of his playing career at 29 rather than being appointed interim head coach of Tottenham.
Mason has taken the temporary reins until the end of the season following Jose Mourinho's sacking on Monday and now leads a club he joined as an eight-year-old.
Not 30 until June, Mason was forced to retire in 2018 after suffering a sickening head injury which almost killed him while playing for Hull, but less than two years after being appointed as the head of player development, he is now overseeing the rest of Tottenham's season.
Playing in that manner could be made more difficult by the likely absence of Harry Kane in Wednesday's clash with Southampton.
The England captain, who is a close friend of Mason, is struggling with an ankle injury suffered in Friday's 2-2 draw with Everton and has not trained since.
Mason could not say whether Kane would be fit for Sunday's Carabao Cup final but hopes he will not be out for long.
"I am not sure currently, he didn't train (on Tuesday)," the 29-year-old said. "We are taking it day by day. We are not sure about the weekend yet, but we know he is working extremely hard to get over this injury.
"I think with any injury you just take it day by day. Harry's a professional, he'll be doing all he can to get fit as soon as possible. It's one of those, there's no timescale on it. But hopefully Harry won't be out for too long."
