Sunderland Echo

No cause to worry about hungry Harry – Southgate

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England boss Gareth Southgate says there has been no need to put an arm around Harry Kane after his World Cup heartache.

The England captain missed a late penalty in the quarter-final defeat to France in Qatar and has subsequent­ly said he will be haunted by it forever.

However, he has not let it affect his domestic form having scored 10 times in 17 games for Spurs since the restart, which has seen him become the club's all-time record goalscorer.

He will also break his country's record the next time he finds the back of the net, which could well be in forthcomin­g Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine next week.

Southgate says he has not deemed it necessary to "interfere" with Kane while he's been on club business but sees a player as hungry as ever to score goals.

"I don't think it's a big hurdle really," he said. "I had a good chat with him while we were away. I sent him a message before he went back to his club and then I took a step back and had a look at how it was.

"And I haven't really felt the need to pick the phone up. It (his recovery) is there in his performanc­es for Spurs.

"Sometimes you can busy yourself and look for a pat on the back by getting in touch with a player but I can't take any credit for what he's done.

"What I've observed is a player still super-confident, still ready to perform, still hungry to score goals. He's obviously gone through the personal landmark with Spurs and then there's this one that he's going to nail with us at some point.

"So, I actually spoke to him earlier this week, but I've been able to take a step back and let him get on with it. Sometimes there's no need to interfere."

Kane scored his latest goal – his 25th of the season in 44 games for both Tottenham and England – during his club’s 3-3 Premier League draw at Southampto­n on Saturday. The result saw Spurs boss Antonio Conte launch a stinging verbal attack on his “selfish” players and club chairman Daniel Levy, which could prompt his departure from White Hart Lane.

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