Gareth Southgate raised concerns over Harry Kane’s fitness following the dire draw with Denmark, but the England captain has played those worries down
England captain Harry Kane has insisted he is fully fit – and will reach his peak in the knock-out stages.
Bayern Munich star Kane did miss the final weeks of the season because of a back injury and was even substituted in England’s draw with Denmark as he admitted he has yet to hit top form.
But Kane, who scored 44 goals in 45 games for Bayern, said: “I spoke before the tournament and I thought the preparation leading up to it was pretty good for me personally. Even the games in the tournament I have felt as fit as I have all season.
“I know I came off in the second game but that was down to the manager wanting to see something different and freshening up the front players especially. From my point of view I am fit.
“I am getting better and better in each game, I have spoken in previous tournaments about the same thing about trying to make sure you come into your peak for the most important part of the tournament which is the knockouts.
“Time will tell, if we get knocked out a lot of questions will be asked but from my point of view it is important to go into this knockout stage feeling 100 percent and I feel I am there.
“If I’m honest with myself … have I played the best that I know I can? No. But I didn’t score in the group stage at the World Cup, I didn’t score in the group stage at the Euros. So from my point of view, it’s a bonus to be one goal ahead.
“But yeah, I’d always judge myself first and I know I can play better and I know a lot of players in the team think the same – that we can all play a little bit better. That’s what I do. I don’t panic. I don’t get too high or too low. I’ll keep doing what I do and just go onto the next one.”
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Kane did admit that England so far at Euro 2024 had not been up to scratch. But he is confident that the Three Lions will finally find their feet in the final group game against Slovenia on Tuesday.
“I think both games playing against the back three caused us a bit of confusion on the pitch. We’d prepared before the game. But then I just think there were certain things where we couldn’t quite get the pressure that we wanted and we weren’t 100 per cent sure about when to go and it’s hard,” he added.
“I don’t think we were great with the ball which then led to feeling like you’re just running and constantly running. So it was tough to turn that momentum around. I think in the next game, I think it will pose a different threat because of the formation.
“It’s more likely going to be different from Slovenia. Hopefully we can show a bit more energy and enthusiasm, especially without the ball and I think that will help us with the ball as well.”
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