Ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, England boss Gareth Southgate has made a promise regarding captain Harry Kane.
Gareth Southgate loves Harry Kane’s desire to play but has promised to manage his captain’s fitness as best as he can.
The 27-year-old striker is on course to break Wayne Rooney’s 53-goal scoring record for the Three Lions. His current tally stands at 32 goals in just 51 appearances.
However, Kane has not scored for his country since the November 2019 win in Kosovo, and Thursday would come as a chance to get goals, with San Marino being the lowest-ranked side in the world.
This match would also be an ideal moment to rest the Three Lions skipper. Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho recently complained last week saying he hoped the striker would not be overworked on international duty.
Gareth Southgate has now noted that he would be taking caution with Harry Kane and his fitness during the international break.
“If I allowed Harry to make that decision, he would play every minute,” Southgate said to Sky Sports.
“That won’t be happening. But, look, it is brilliant we have a captain who wants to play every minute of every game.”
“We have got to be mindful he had extra time last Thursday and another high intensity game last Sunday, so we have got situations with a lot of the players, really, and we have got to make sure we manage the fixture correctly.”
“We have done that through training this week as well and we need to be just as fresh with the games against Albania and Poland as we do tomorrow. So, that is not an unusual challenge for us as a coaching team and as a medical team and our physical performance team. But we always communicate well with the players and I think we are in a good place going into the game tomorrow.”
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