HARRY KANE would be a wonderful addition to the Spain squad, according to their manager Julen Lopetegui.
England boss Gareth Southgate has revealed his conversation with the boss of the team that beat Italy 3-0 on Saturday without a recognised striker.
NEW CUSTOMER OFFER: ENGLAND NOW 33/1 TO BEAT SLOVAKIA WITH SUN BETS
Hotshot Kane has scored five goals in his last three England games.
And Southgate said: “I was having some interaction with Julen Lopetegui at a game where he was saying how lucky I was to have Harry playing.
“He’s in top form — but he’s also got the mentality to want to be the best.”
Kane will lead the line in the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia tonight.
The Tottenham frontman netted the first and last of England’s goals in their mediocre 4-0 victory away to Malta on Friday.
And he is urging fans to show more patience at Wembley as the group leaders take on the second-placed Slovakians, two points below them.
most read in football
Kane said: “Sometimes people underestimate the teams we play.
“Especially at home they can make it difficult, particularly in the first half when they’re energetic.
“It’s a big scalp to try to get a result against England.
“We’re by no means the finished article, there’s lots of work to do, and we’ve just got to stay patient as a country together. It’s not going to happen overnight.”
⚽ EXCLUSIVE OFFER: England now 33/1 beat Slovakia ⚽
FANCY the Three Lions to coast to victory against Slovakia at Wembley?
Well get on Sun Bets' huge 33/1 (new customers only) for England to win their World Cup qualifier.
HARRY KANE will aim to be double trouble for Slovakia.
The Tottenham striker scored five times in his first 17 senior England appearances.
But he has doubled that tally with strikes in the games against Scotland, France and Malta.
With ten goals in 20 games, Kane has compared his scoring record to that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the early stages of their international career.
England boss Gareth Southgate said: “He knew this morning how many goals in games he had — and also how many Ronaldo and Messi had at this point.
“He’s driven to be one of the world’s best. Why can’t that happen moving forward?
“I have every trust in Harry. I’ve worked with him long enough, from the Under-21s. He’ll deliver whatever the occasion. He relishes the occasion.
“We’re still talking about a 24-year-old, so there’s still much more to come from him.
“Alan Shearer was 25 when he was top scorer in ’96. Harry is still in the early stages of his career but top scorer in the league two years running and in a really good place.”
Kane has yet to score a Premier League goal in the month of August but on September 1, he ended the mini-goal drought with a double in the 4-0 win over Malta.
The Spurs striker has always admitted he is dreaming of overtaking Messi and Ronaldo to be crowned the world’s top player.
Southgate added: “You’ve got to have that drive and belief — and that’s what he’s got. He had that when we weren’t picking him in the Under-21s.
“He’d come and say: ‘Hold on a minute, why? What’s the rationale?’
“I never minded that self-belief. He’s doing that for Spurs now in the biggest matches.”
Marcus Rashford is set to replace Raheem Sterling in the starting line-up at Wembley tonight and Southgate is delighted with the number of forwards available, even though the team is short in other areas.
Southgate said: “Look at the depth, too. It’s fantastic. My previous job as a club manager, I’d look at the bench and didn’t have that. Harry Redknapp had Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane when we played Spurs but I had kids.
“That makes a difference to the game. To have that depth of attacking talent is really, really powerful.”
England will be five points clear with just two games left if they win tonight. Southgate added: “It’s a great opportunity for us.
“A home game, we are playing good opposition so we have got to make sure that we are tactically prepared, which we will be, but also we’ve got to have belief in the team that we’ve got.
“We’ve got some exciting players and we want to go and show that, We know the task we have. We know the opportunity.”
Asked whether a draw would be a bad result, he added: “After 81 minutes in Scotland, a draw would have been a bad result.
“After 89 minutes it would have been a great result. On 94 minutes I am not sure what it was.
“You just don’t know. A draw, obviously, keeps us top of the group but we want to win.
“We want to go for the win and there’s no way we’re going out there looking for a draw.”
Leave a comment