‘Squad is calm and patient’
time. The best time to be peaking is in the knockout stages and hopefully kick on from there.
“From our point of view, inside the group, it’s time to be calm.”
Kane was substituted after firing blanks for the second game running – but he insists it was better to get a reality check in the group games rather than the knockout stages.
Kane said: “The first objective was to qualify. If you turn the results around and we drew against Croatia and beat Scotland and had four points, I don’t think there would be too many disappointed with that.
“Just look at the last European Championship. I don’t think Portugal won a group game, but they ended up winning the tournament.
“It’s rare that you win all your group and knockout games and have a straight line to the top and lift the trophy.
“Sometimes you have a few ups and downs, maybe a few reality checks.
“That helps the team and helps you improve for the later stages of the tournament – and that’s the case for us.”
The optimism cranked up by England’s opening 1-0 win over Croatia was punctured by the Scots.
Gareth Southgate’s side were booed off at the end – and now must beat the Czechs when they return to Wembley on Tuesday to top the group.
Asked if he had a message for the England fans, Kane said: “Just be patient, be calm.
“Obviously, we’re not going to play perfect every game. The main thing is that us as a group are in a good mind-space and in a good place.
“No one’s panicking here. No one is thinking we’ve got to change the way we do stuff.
“It’s a matter of just improving and working on a few bits that we know we can get better at – and hopefully taking that into what will be the business end of the tournament.”