Tim Sherwood has heavily criticised his former Tottenham Hotspur employers for attempting to sell Harry Kane during his time in charge of the club.

The 21-year-old has since gone on to become one of the most feared frontmen in the country following a run of 26 goals in 42 appearances for Spurs this season.

However, Sherwood, who is now tasked with keeping Aston Villa in the Premier League, insists that the North London outfit were eager to sell the Englishman along with a few other homegrown stars prior to his rich vein of form.

"I don't name names but there was more than one," The Telegraph quotes him as saying. "It's great I resisted the temptation to get rid of him last January because perhaps he wouldn't be the star he is for Tottenham. I would never have allowed him to be sold when I was there.

"It's ridiculous that you let your homegrown players go. I thought it was poor that [Jake] Livermore and [Steven] Caulker should leave. It's wrong for clubs to continually waste money on investing new players that you don't know are going to settle. They should trust the people who know football within the club and not listen to outside influences who are trying to flog them a player.

"If they had brought in somebody last January and his name ended in a 'I' or an 'O' the fans would have been very excited, but I'm not sure he would have given the same output as Harry Kane has given."

Kane was rewarded for his impressive performances at club level this term by receiving his first England senior call-up in Roy Hodgson's latest squad for fixtures against Lithuania and Italy.