HODGSON TO GIVE ‘ WORTHY’ KANE ENGLAND SHOT
ROY HODGSON will reward Harry Kane’s blistering form by handing him an England call- up but insists Wayne Rooney will continue in a striking role for the national team.
Tottenham forward Kane, left, will be promoted for next month’s Euro 2016 qualifi er with Lithuania and the friendly against Italy after scoring 23 goals this season .
The future of Rickie Lambert’s England career is uncertain as he struggles for games at Liverpool, while it has emerged youngster Saido Berahino has been reprimanded by the Football Association under their Code of Conduct following his conviction for drink- driving.
Hodgson has been impressed with Kane’s impact and will give the 21- year- old the opportunity to show he can make the step up in standard.
“Is he worth a place in the squad now? Of course he is,” said Hodgson. “We brought a lot of young players in during my time. We had Saido Berahino in the last
squad. Kane certainly deserves a place in the squad as much as, say, Saido did.
“If your question is, ‘ Is he worthy of a place ahead of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Sturridge?’ Well, that’s something he’ll have to prove.
“But unless I give him a chance in the squad he’ll never get a chance to prove that.
“I do show a certain degree of loyalty to players who have been playing for a while and who I know I can trust. But I’m prepared to give someone a chance when he’s showing with his current form he’s worthy of a place .
“Kane combines everything that you are looking for in a centre forward. He can be a target player and receive balls that are played up to him. He’s not one who just stays on the shoulder and makes runs.
“He’s quite prepared to take part in the build- up play, run the channels, receive the longer balls, fi ght with the centre- halves but is also prepared to make those runs into the box.
“He is good at attacking crosses. He’s good at making short runs to get played in.”
Hodgson is also closely monitoring the impressive form of Burnley’s Danny Ings but is clear he still views Rooney as his main striker.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has deployed Rooney in midfi eld but it is not a tactic England are planning to mirror. “Wayne’s the sort of player who can play anywhere,” said the England coach. “We’ll only use him in the position that suits our team .
“He’s a goalscorer isn’t he? He’s our top goalscorer in the qualifi ers. He is just a couple of goals away now from being England’s leading goalscorer, so I hope he will continue to score goals for us.”
Berahino, above, was reminded of his responsibilities by the FA’s director of elite development, Dan Ashworth, after being banned from driving for 12 months having pleaded guilty to drink- driving.
“He has been reprimanded,” said Hodgson. “It is up to him to put that behind him and show that he has taken the reprimand on board.”