Harry Kane is “positive” about his prospects at Tottenham Hotspur and is not distracted by speculation surrounding his future, according to Gareth Southgate. The England manager’s remarks come after speculation surrounding Kane’s future at Spurs emerged during the past week.

Whether or not Kane decides the summer is the right time to move away from Tottenham, Southgate is certain that it will not impact on the England striker’s focus ahead of the European Championship. Kane, who has three years remaining on his Spurs contract, is yet to win a major trophy.

"He is so focused, I had a chat with him, as I do with all the players, when he came into camp,” Southgate said. “He was very positive about Spurs, talking about only being a few points off the Champions League and in a League Cup final.

"You could see his focus the other day, he scored a fantastic goal. An excellent assist as well, I have no worries about Harry Kane, he is a fantastic professional and his focus is on the next training session, the next match. He can put everything to one side.

 

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"I think Harry is of course a highly motivated player, all players want to win things. He has got an opportunity with his club in the next few weeks to that. I have four players in the other dressing room so I can't state any preference for that.

"He wants to be in the latter stages of competitions, he has played in a Champions League final for Tottenham, he has a second League Cup final coming up. Those are the occasions he wants to be involved in. You want to be at major tournaments and in the important matches in the league.

Mount available for selection

Southgate was able to confirm that Mason Mount will be available for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley despite a lingering fitness fear. The Chelsea midfielder is looking to start a third England game in a row having impressed with his first half display in the 5-0 rout of San Marino before scoring in the 2-0 victory in Albania on Sunday.

He didn’t warm up with the rest of the team but he did the rest of the session after though - he should be fine,” Southgate said. Asked if there were any other fitness issues in the 24-man squad, the England manager replied: “No, everyone is available.

Poland are the only team in the Group I that are anywhere close to England’s level on the international scene, and will present a sterner test than the ones Southgate’s side have faced in their last two games.

 

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Therefore, the England manager’s starting lineup, despite the absentees from the squad through injury, will offer guidance as to who he would like to start in the summer. That is especially the case in defence. Harry Maguire and John Stones are expected to start but whether Southgate opts for Luke Shaw or Ben Chilwell on the left and Kyle Walker or Reece James on the right will be telling.

Poland struck by Covid

Poland’s preparations for this game have been further disrupted after two more players tested positive for coronavirus. Grzegorz Krychowiak, the experienced Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder, and Kamil Piatkowski, a 20-year-old centre back, returned positive tests, along with their media officer Jakub Kwiatkowski.

However, Krychowiak took a second test this morning, which returned a negative result, so he has travelled to London for the game. But Robert Lewandowski, Poland’s star striker, will be absent due to a knee injury and is likely to also miss Bayern Munich’s upcoming Champions League quarter final.

Paulo Sousa, the Poland coach, welcomed the news of Krychowiak being available: “It is huge, especially against a team like England, to have his quality and experience in the middle of the park. Not only in terms of what he can reach himself but what he can transmit and communicate to the others.”

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