Kane wants jokers to lay off England stars
HARRY KANE says people should stop knocking England’s best players.
He was the subject of a social media backlash after successfully appealing to have Christian Eriksen’s goal against Stoke awarded to him instead.
The Tottenham star also received an apology from the FA for poking fun at him in a tweet about his side’s 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United.
A message from the competition’s official account asked United defender Chris Smalling, ‘What’s in your pocket?’ with a clip of him replying, ‘Harry Kane.’
Kane, who scored his 27th Premier League goal of the season in Monday night’s 2-0 win over Watford, insists he has not let the jibes affect him as he hunts down Mohamed Salah for the Golden Boot.
But with his Spurs team-mate Dele Alli and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling also receiving plenty of stick this season, he believes England players deserve more respect. Kane said: “The FA tweet was a silly tweet. We all know that. I talked to the gaffer about it and all we said was, ‘Would other countries do that to their players?’ Probably not.
“I am over it. The gaffer may have said that I am sad, but I am focused. I am a guy that gets over things.
“People are going to have their opinions. When you are not doing well, people are going to look for certain individuals to dig out. It is what it is.
“I try not to get too high or get too low because you never know what is around the corner. They are entitled to their opinion.
“The press, everyone, can say what they want. I am focusing on my job and what I need to do.”
Strange
Kane also believes the constant need to poke fun at England players could affect their bid for glory at the World Cup in Russia this summer.
He said: “It’s strange. Maybe it’s a mentality thing. It is easier nowadays maybe to banter England players or take the mickey out of the England players.
“So if we don’t do well in the World Cup, then they can write and say, ‘We told you so.’ But it is what it is. We are focusing on what we have got to do.
“We have got to go with the mindset and belief that we can do it. We try to win everything we go into – the World Cup is no different.
“On social media you get a few people who don’t see eye-to-eye and it is being a fan and having an opinion.”
Kane, who is only four goals behind Salah with three games to go, added: “It is just a small number of fans who maybe go over the mark, but that is just life.”