‘Won’t be happening’ – Southgate drops Kane hint ahead of San Marino clash

Gareth Southgate has hinted that Harry Kane might be rested for England’s clash against San Marino this evening by admitting that he has to manage the Spurs star’s workload carefully.

Kane has been one of the first names on the teamsheet for both club and country for over five years and the Tottenham star has picked up more than his fair share of injuries over the past few years.

There has been a tug of war over his fitness between Spurs and England recently, with Jose Mourinho and Gareth Southgate butting heads on the subject earlier in the season.

Mourinho insisted ahead of the current international fixtures that it is completely up to Southgate if he chooses to play Kane in all three of England’s matches but hoped that the England boss would protect the striker.

Southgate has now admitted that Kane wants to play every game but hinted that the striker will be rested for at least one of three matches.

When asked if he sometimes allows Kane to pick and choose which game he wants to be involved in, the England boss told The Evening Standard: “If I allowed Harry to make that decision, he’d play every minute!

“So that won’t be happening. It’s brilliant we’ve got a captain who wants to play every minute of every game. We’ve got to be mindful he had extra-time last Thursday [in Tottenham’s Europa League defeat at Dinamo Zagreb] and another high-intensity game on Sunday. We’ve got that situation with a lot of the players, really.

“We’ve got to make sure we manage the fixtures correctly, we’ve got to manage training this week as well.

“And of course we’ve got to be just as fresh for the games with Albania and Poland as we do tomorrow night so that’s not an usual challenge for us and our coaching team, and for our medical team and physical performance team.

“But we always communicate well with the players and I think we’re in a good place going into the game tomorrow.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I believe it is highly likely that Southgate will give Ollie Watkins a run against San Marino and start Kane against both Poland and Albania. Hopefully, the striker returns to Spurs unscathed.

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