I’m the man to fire England to victory against foes Scotland, insists Tottenham striker Harry Kane
England striker Harry Kane has vowed to enhance his reputation for slaying his side’s greatest rivals when the Three Lions host Scotland in Friday’s World Cup qualifier at Wembley.
Kane returned from a seven-week injury lay-off to net Tottenham’s leveller from the penalty spot against old foes Arsenal in the battle of north London at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The 23-year-old has scored five goals in four Premier League matches against the Gunners, while he has also found the net three times in two games against fellow London club Chelsea.
“I seem to do well in games with rivals so England is no different,” said Kane. “If I’m picked to play, I’ll be coming into that game full of passion and pride and trying to win the game for our country.
“We all know how big the game is on Friday. It will be an amazing atmosphere and an amazing competition on the pitch. He [interim boss Gareth Southgate] showed us a montage of all the previous games.
“It’s great to look back and see all of that and feel the importance of the game, how important it is as players and staff and fans. We all know what it means. Gareth knows what it means so we’re all looking forward to it.”
Kane has not featured for England under the temporary tutelage of former Crystal Palace defender Gareth Southgate after being sidelined with ankle ligament damage prior to England’s World Cup qualifiers with Malta and Slovenia.
Southgate has two matches of his four-game audition remaining with Friday’s result set to go some way to determining whether he is handed the England’s reins on a permanent basis.
“We’re just concentrating on winning the game,” added Kane. “Gareth will do everything he can to win the game. All we can do is our jobs on the pitch. We’ve got more than enough to win the game.
“You don’t want to be booked early on and get sent off. Of course there’s going to be some good tackles sliding in, a lot of battles, a lot of duels, but that’s what it’s all about.
“If you can keep a cool head, but still have passion, it should be very good for us. All we can do is fight and work hard as a team.
“We want to go out there and win the game. We want to make sure we send the fans home happy with a good result and hopefully have a good performance as well.”
England currently top Group F, two points clear of second-placed Lithuania, while Gordon Strachan’s Scotland are fourth and are currently on a run of just one victory in their last five matches.