Gareth Southgate Hints That 'Fully Fit' Harry Kane Will Start Against Denmark

England skipper Harry Kane is poised to return to the England's starting lineup for Wednesday night's Nations League clash with Denmark after Gareth Southgate declared him "fully fit".

Kane didn't make the squad for the friendly victory over Wales last week and was only fit enough for the bench in the Three Lions' 2-1 triumph over Belgium on Sunday night as a result of muscle fatigue.

The 27-year-old hitman, though, did enter proceedings just after the hour mark at Wembley following Mason Mount's strike to hand England the lead.

Mason Mount's deflected strike proved the winner on Sunday | Pool/Getty Images

Southgate confirmed that Kane's issue was only minor and when asked whether the Tottenham hitman was fit enough to start their clash with Denmark on Wednesday night, the England boss replied: "Absolutely. He was feeling delayed muscle soreness, which can often happen to athletes but there was no injury at any point.

"Our issue with Harry before Sunday's game was to be able to perform at the highest level. Now, with the addition of a couple of days' training, it's not even an issue," Southgate added, via Sky Sports News.

"He's been fully fit since the end of last week, just before the last game. He would have started the last game but hadn't had enough training time.

Gareth Southgate hinted that his skipper will return to the starting XI against Denmark | Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

"He was obviously fine during the game so he's fit and available."

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho had previously expressed concerns over Kane's workload and asked Southgate to protect his talisman by not playing him in all of England's games during the international break.

"We don't risk players. I've been a player and my priority is always the welfare of players," the England boss said.

Jose Mourinho was keen to see Kane's workload reduced while away on international duty | Nikolay Doychinov/Getty Images

"On very rare occasions, we've ended up with a couple of injuries during matches. That's pretty much unavoidable.

"We've never lost a player through an error in terms of our training load. We pride ourselves on looking after the players. We want them fit, we want them as sharp as possible for the games."


Source : 90min