Harry Kane hopes to convince Gareth Southgate to allow him to start England’s Nations League games against Croatia and Spain despite concerns within the coaching set-up over burnout.
The England staff have been measuring the World Cup Golden Boot winner’s workload through training at St George’s Park this week, with Kane retiring inside early on Tuesday. Kane has begun 67 games since the beginning of last season and Southgate rested him for the start for last month’s friendly against Switzerland. The striker came off the bench for the last 29 minutes.
However, Kane wants to start tomorrow’s tie against Croatia – who beat England in the World Cup semi-final in Moscow in July – in Rijeka and next Tuesday’s follow-up against Spain in Seville. Southgate will assess the player in training before determining whether the 25-year-old begins both ties.
Kane cut short his summer holiday to make himself available for Spurs’ opening Premier League game, at Newcastle, 27 days after England’s elimination from the World Cup and has had only one summer without involvement in a tournament, either with the seniors or Under-21s, since 2015.
Southgate is considering offering Kane’s club-mate Harry Winks a second cap in the behind-closed-doors game in Croatia as he considers his midfield options. Winks’ only previous appearance for the seniors was a European Championship qualifier against Lithuania a little over a year ago.
