Roy Hodgson confirms Harry Kane will make England debut
Thursday 26 March 2015 17:18, UK
Harry Kane's "incredible season" will reach a new high with an England debut in the next week, Roy Hodgson has confirmed.
The Tottenham striker earned a first senior call-up on the back of 29 goals at club level in his first campaign as a regular first-team player.
Kane has been tipped as a potential PFA Player of the Year, while Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes the 21-year-old should start Friday's European Qualifier against Lithuania.
Hodgson would not be drawn on his selection plans for Wembley or Tuesday's friendly in Italy, but he did say Kane would be returning to White Hart Lane as a full international.
"We're very happy with Harry," the England manager told the media at his Thursday press conference. "I can certainly say he's not in any way damaged his chances of playing, and I'm pretty sure over the course of these two games we'll see him make his debut.
"But I'm not prepared to give my selection away and when that is, people will have to wait and see."
In the meantime, Kane can add another huge name to his list of supporters: England captain Wayne Rooney.
It's great for English football to have someone scoring goals the way he is.
"The season he's had has been incredible," Rooney said. "His first season in the Premier League, to score the goals he's scored, and his performances have been excellent. He fully deserves his call-up to the squad.
"We've seen over the last few days (in training) that he's a goalscorer. If he has a chance, he'll finish. It's great for English football to have someone scoring goals the way he is."
Hodgson was equally coy on his other selection dilemmas but did hint that Liverpool's Raheem Sterling and James Milner of Manchester City - both carrying injury niggles - may be allowed to return to their clubs for after Friday's game.
Euro 2016 Qualifiers
"We haven't decided upon that yet," he said. "Raheem is an obvious case, there's another one with James Milner, who's been playing for quite a long while with a knee problem.
"Both of them have done well in training this week, they played through it just like they have been playing through it with their clubs but there are people, those are two examples, that we're going to have a serious look at.
"In Raheem's case, in particular, I think he needs some specific treatment and, who knows, the wise thing might be to let him go and give someone else a chance."
