Harry Kane vows he will be at ‘peak sharpness’ for England’s last-16 showdown against Slovakia at Euro 2024 and claims ’99 per cent’ of fans are ‘behind the team and the manager’

Harry Kane believes he will be at ‘peak sharpness’ as he looks to continue his good knockout scoring record for England at the 2024 European Championship.

Captain Kane may be England’s all-time top scorer, but his goal in the draw against Denmark was his first in the group stages of a major final since the 2018 World Cup.

However, he will be bolstered by his recent record when the tournament kicks off against Slovakia on Sunday, having scored four in four at Euro 2020 as England were eventually beaten on penalties by Italy.

At the 2022 World Cup, he again drew a clean sheet in the group stage before scoring two in two, although he did miss a penalty in the quarter-final against France.

England will play Slovakia in the round of 16 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday evening in an attempt to book a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 against Switzerland.

The striker admitted that he often grows into major international tournaments with the Three Lions

Kane hopes to continue his impressive run in all-or-nothing international matches and explains why he feels he is growing in competitions.

“I think it’s kind of part of the tournament process,” he said.

‘I think of course you’re physically stronger and of course you’re sharper the more games you play.

“So we’ve played three games in a short space of time, so I think not only me, but a lot of other players will be at their sharpest in the knockout stages. I also noticed that during the recent tournaments.

‘As the striker of the team I obviously want to score goals and help the team progress to the next round, but if I don’t score and we get through then I’m not going to complain.

Kane has only scored once in Germany, his only goal coming in the 1-1 draw with Denmark

“It could just be the sharpness but ultimately I enjoy these games. I think knockout football is a different prospect to the group stage and we’ve handled that well in the past and now it’s time to do it again.”

Kane’s sloppy finish in the 1-1 draw against Denmark was one of only two goals scored by England in the three matches in Group C. This led to widespread criticism for the poor performance despite him doing enough to progress as group winners .

Laughter was heard at the end of the draws in Denmark and Slovenia as plastic beer cups were hurled at manager Gareth Southgate.

“If I’m completely honest, I think 99 percent of the fans are behind the team and the manager,” Keane replied when asked if he had a message for supporters ahead of the last-16 clash at the Veltins Arena.

‘Of course as a player and as a coach you will have moments when people express their opinions and that is part and parcel of playing for England.

‘That’s what it comes down to, but I think, as the boss said there, the second half of that game in particular was one of the best atmospheres I’ve been involved in and it shows how much the fans care about the team, about us, trying to win the game and that’s all that matters.

Plastic cups were hurled at boss Gareth Southgate after the goalless draw in Slovenia

‘We are a very strong group, not only players, but also staff. We know what it takes to achieve what we have achieved over the last six years or so.

‘We know that from now until the end of this tournament it’s going to be a very tough journey if we want to go all the way.

‘So that’s all that matters: fighting for each other on the training field, on the match field and that’s what we’ll continue to do and I know the fans will be behind us with that.’

Kane hopes his partnership with Jude Bellingham improves as the tournament progresses.

“From a captain’s perspective I always talk to all the players and with Jude we always talk about how we can improve,” Kane said. ‘We watched clips of the match against Denmark to see how we can play better. We would have liked to have played better and had more connection.

“But I still feel like the movements are there. We’re going really well and I thought it was a lot better than the first two games.

Kane is hopeful that his partnership with Jude Bellingham will improve as the tournament progresses

‘As I said before the tournament: the relationship is still quite new. Even though we’ve played together a bit, there are still things we can both do better.

“We hope that we will grow more and more as the tournament progresses. From Jude’s point of view, he should just keep doing what he’s doing.

‘Many things happen very quickly in tournament football. In the first game he was the best player and man of the match and in the last few games none of us have reached the level we really wanted.

‘It’s two games. It’s not the end of the world. I know things will be taken to the next level and there will be a lot of talk, but that’s part of playing for England in a big tournament.

‘Jude has handled it incredibly well for his age. He has done very well for his age to go to Real Madrid.

“So there’s no worry about Jude. He’s a great guy, he believes in himself 100 percent and from both points of view we want to go out tomorrow and raise our level.”