Abraham has long way to go to challenge Harry

AS hidings to nothing go it’s up there with taking on Rafael Nadal at the French Open blindfolded.

In fact, there might be more chance of Nadal losing at Roland Garros before he retires than of Tammy Abraham dislodging Harry Kane as England’s No.1 striker.

The best Abraham can hope for come November and December is a spot of winter sunshine, while watching England attempt to win the World Cup.

But he has to get on the plane to Qatar 2022 in the first place, because even a role as Kane’s bag man has to be earned.

And Abraham (below) had earned his audition here at Molineux following a stellar season with AS Roma, which has seen the forward take inspiration from the most romantic place in Europe to rediscover his love of football.

Few strikers go to Serie A and succeed.

Even the great Ian Rush failed to impress after joining Juventus from Liverpool while at the peak of his powers.

“I couldn’t settle in Italy,” Rush is supposed to have once said, “it was like living in a foreign country.”

It seems Abraham has adopted a more intelligent approach to making his career work on the continent.

He went to the Italian capital with a confused conscience and heavy heart 10 months ago, having found himself bombed out at Chelsea.

He appeared to have a bright future at Stamford Bridge, where he had been a teenage graduate, but in those final doomed months in London Frank Lampard was sacked and Thomas Tuchel could find no space for him in the team.

In big games like the Champions League and FA Cup finals he wasn’t even in the squad at all. And he was jettisoned from England’s plans to find himself watching the

Three Lions charge to the Euro 2020 final last summer from his sofa at home.

So he joined Roma in a £34million deal, allowed “uncle Jose” Mourinho to put a comforting arm around his shoulders and it all changed. Unlike Rush, he embraced new cultures and challenges, scored 27 goals this season and helped Roma win the European Conference League.

As we all know, scoring against Italian defenders can be quite a challenge. England boss Gareth Southgate has recognised this to bring him back into the international fold and give him the chance to prove there could be life without Kane, should the worst happen and the England captain ever get injured.

Southgate had made it clear what was on the line when he said: “There are a few players in the team with a position at stake.

“Tammy’s goalscoring record is the best in the whole squad, playing in a different league but where it is still tough to score.

“We know that if we get the ball into him in the right areas he will finish. It will be interesting to see the rest of his game.”

Abraham looked sharp at the start, chasing down Gianluigi Donnarumma to put pressure on the Italian goalkeeper.

Minutes later he should have scored after harassing Francesco Acerbi into losing the ball inside his own box, but all he could then do was fire wide.

He then headed off target after Mason Mount’s shot had rattled back off the crossbar as he continued to fluff his lines.

And when he ventured back to do some defending, he was more of a hindrance than a help, colliding with Jack Grealish in comical fashion to hand a chance to Manuel Locatelli, which Fikayo Tomori did well to block.

He fist-pumped the air when forcing Donnarumma into a misplaced pass which handed England a throw in – and then punched that same fist into the turf in anger when he jarred his ankle in a collision with Federico Dimarco.

A night of hope and expectation had turned into one of frustration and he went off on 64 minutes.

He might have found a new home in Rome, but when it comes to England, Abraham has still to find his place.