Harry Kane to captain England against Scotland

Friday 09 Jun 2017

Striker Harry Kane will captain England for their 2018 World Cup qualifier against Scotland, manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed.

Kane finished the Premier League season in red-hot form, notching 35 goals in 38 games for club side Tottenham Hotspur.

But injury means the 23-year-old won the last of his 17 England caps against Slovakia in September 2016 and has been unavailable throughout Southgate’s tenure.

The pair are no strangers though, having worked together previously in the England Under-21 setup.

And Southgate has full confidence in Kane to lead his team at Hampden Park.

“Harry Kane will be captain for the game,” Southgate confirmed.

“We have several players who have excellent leadership qualities and Harry is a player we have worked with, with the Under-21s before.

“He’s got a terrific mentality and I know he is delighted to be leading the team.

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“He finished the season in great form and any team would want a finisher of his quality in their side.”

The Three Lions are top of Group F at the halfway point in the qualifying campaign and go into the weekend four points clear of second-placed Slovakia.

They are yet to concede and showed their potency in a 3-0 defeat of Scotland in November in only Southgate’s third match in charge.

As a player, Southgate was an unused substitute when England beat Scotland 2-0 at Hampden Park en route to qualifying for Euro 2000, but took on the Auld Enemy twice at Wembley.

The magnitude of the occasion is certainly not lost on the former defender and Southgate says his players will be ready for the challenge.

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“It’s a special fixture, but the key objective is to qualify for the World Cup, so we’ve got to keep that in our mind,” he added.

“But it’s a game that will test us in every way and that’s what we should be looking forward to.

“Everybody is fit and available. I’m really pleased with the level of training and we’ll have to transfer that into the game.

“The players have embraced some new ideas this week around how we want to work and we’re looking forward to the game, it’s a great one to be involved with.”

By Jim Lucas

Captain Kane