- The England captain missed parts of training this week due to an ankle injury
- He experienced the problem during Bayern Munich’s 5-2 win over Darmstadt
- We need to put in a dominant English performance. Brazil brings glamour, but it’s their reserves! It all starts podcast
Harry Kane is doubtful for Saturday’s match against Brazil as he continues to recover from an ankle injury.
The England captain suffered the problem last Saturday while playing for Bayern Munich after crashing into a goalpost during his side’s win over Darmstadt.
Kane has missed parts of training this week and will be treated at St George’s Park on Monday after a scan.
And there are concerns that the country’s all-time top scorer will not be fit enough to start against the South Americans this weekend, although hopes remain he can play a bigger role in Tuesday’s match against Belgium.
England will not take any chances on Kane’s fitness, especially as both matches are friendlies.
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If Kane is not fit to start against Brazil, head coach Gareth Southgate is expected to turn to Ivan Toney or Ollie Watkins to play as England’s central striker.
There is a growing feeling that Southgate, who can only choose 23 players for Euro 2024, will pick one between Toney and Watkins this summer.
Last week Southgate said: ‘He (Toney) has super quality. He plays with enormous self-confidence, a great appearance, technically a good finisher. The goal he scored at Spurs you often see forward in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper and you’re not sure, I wasn’t in the stadium thinking this isn’t going in, there’s no doubt about possible. He is a very good finisher.
‘He actually has a slightly different profile to Ollie and Harry, but he does have the ability to both connect and finish the game.
‘We still have to figure out whether we take two ‘out-and-out’ 9s or three and we have other players in the attacking areas who can play as a 9, (Jarrod) Bowen has done that, (Anthony) Gordon has done. done, Bellingham almost did that too.
“So we have to figure out what the right balance is further down the line, but we felt we needed to involve Ollie and Ivan in particular and make them feel part of that group. They both deserve it in different ways.”