STAN COLLYMORE Pickings are slim, just like our hopes

COLLY GO ... AND GOOD LUK

Follow us on Twitter: @peoplesport I’M even more worried about England’s goalscoring potential at the World Cup in Russia next year than I was about their strike-force ahead of Euro 2016.

And I have to say I was pretty concerned back then.

We seem to be pinning all our hopes for success in 2018 on Harry Kane, which is troubling enough on its own but even more so when you consider he has twice injured the same ankle this season.

Most of the squads of the leading European nations have two, maybe three, top strikers who are scoring goals at the top level across the continent.

But I’m not sure we have, even when all of the contenders are fit.

Before his injury, Kane was the only England striker who looked like getting 20-plus goals in the top flight this season.

Threat

Jermain Defoe will do well to get there from the 14 goals he has scored – an impressive tally, by the way – in a struggling Sunderland team while Jamie Vardy has scored eight Premier League goals and one in the Champions League.

Wayne Rooney, for so long England’s chief goal threat, has managed just two in the Premier League and two in the Europa League.

What’s more, all three of those players will be well into their 30s come the World Cup.

France have brought in teenage Monaco star Kylian Mbappe – but I don’t think we have anyone on the horizon like him.

Marcus Rashford is the closest thing but he’s a year down the line now in terms of his progression since he burst on to the scene and Jose Mourinho clearly doesn’t see him as anything other than impact sub. Rashford is a rookie and, although the promise is there, will he get an opportunity to lead the line for United in the next two or three years that will give him the confidence to lead the line for England? In a year’s time, I still see him starting only League Cup and FA Cup games – perhaps the odd Premier League start – and that’s no good at international level. So we’ve got slim pickings, very slim pickings. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve no problem with Defoe coming into the squad for the games against Germany and Lithuania – he’s a very good goalscorer and he’ll be good to have around.

But if I’m looking at the finals in Russia, then Kane is our main threat and I still have to be convinced he can make that step-up to world level.

Does he have that pace – that lightning pace – like a Mbappe to be able to really hurt defenders? The answer at the moment is no. He didn’t have a very good Euros, he looked sluggish and a little bit leggy, and at Tottenham he still hasn’t done it in Europe.

And unless Spurs invest in another top-quality striker – as I keep imploring them to – he’ll have played 50-odd games going into the World Cup.

So I’m worried, very worried, and I just hope there’s a striker out there who can start his run to the finals now so that Kane isn’t our only attacking hope when we head to Russia.

Focused

Former Spurs star Jake Livermore’s call-up caps a remarkable comeback from the personal troubles he has been through. It’s a great story and one which shows he has put the problems he had behind him and focused on his football – and look where it has got him.

We exchanged a couple of texts when he was handed a drugs ban, in extenuating circumstances, and I told him to keep his head up, that he had a lot of support out there.

So I’m thrilled for him – he has been through adversity but he has really turned things around.

Some people have said there are players who should be in there ahead of him, but I’d say to them that the best team isn’t necessarily made up of the best 11 individuals, it’s all about balance and blend, and he has an opportunity now to do his thing so Adam Lallana and Co ahead of him can

do theirs. ROMELU LUKAKU has every attribute to be the world’s best centre-forward.

And I’m not talking in the style of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, but in the classic sense of the position: holding the ball up, bringing teammates into play, getting on the end of crosses and scoring goals.

Which is why I can fully understand his decision not to sign a new deal at Everton. He is the Premier mier League’s top scorer thisis season, so why wouldn’t he want to test himself in the Champions League next year?

If he played for Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Bayern Munich or even Real Madrid, he would fly like an eagle.

So, with the greatest of respect to Everton – great club that it is and one I have a massive soft spot for – why would Lukaku (above) stay there?

They will be seventh, on average, for the next three to four years and he won’t want to look back on his career and wish he had moved on.

He has been very respectful in all he has said, he hasn’t done a Dimitri Payet and signed a new deal, taken his bonus then downed tools, he hasn’t thrown a strop or slated any of his team-mates.

And he’s right to put himself first. I WAS disappointed to see Aitor Karanka leave Middlesbrough this weekwee because I’ve really enjoyed watching his side and the way they play. But his departure is a lesson for a lot of Premier League clubs that – regardlessrgardless of whether you’re a long-ball team, a passing team, a hard-to-beat team, an experienced team, or a yyoungg team – the only currency that really matters is scoringscorin goals.als.