'A concern': ITV pundit has seen Tottenham star do something on national duty that worries him

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Ally McCoist believes Harry Kane will struggle to be effective if he continues to drop deep for England in the way he does for Tottenham Hotspur, speaking on ITV.

Kane was on the scoresheet for the Three Lions last night as they ended their batch of World Cup qualifiers with a valuable 2-1 win against old adversaries Poland.

Tottenham’s crown jewel opened the scoring at Wembley with a first-half penalty after Raheem Sterling was tripped.

It was a 34^th international goal for Kane as the skipper took another step closer to Wayne Rooney’s all-time England record of 53.

McCoist concerned

However, for all Kane’s attacking prowess McCoist found one element to the Spurs striker’s performance troubling.

The former Rangers striker said: “That, for me, is a little bit of a concern when your main goalscorer is dropping deep.

“He’ll do it occasionally against better teams (but) not against the lesser teams – because you want him in the box.

“One of the problems he may have when he drops deep is I don’t think he’s got the pace to keep up with Sterling and (Marcus) Rashford going forward.

“You want to be in the box when the boys get wide and are getting crosses in.”

Kane the creator

The tactic of dropping into a deeper position is nothing new for Kane.

It’s a ploy he’s used to perfection with Tottenham this season and he has often been the supplier of a killer pass, rather than just receiving one.

16 assists in all competitions for the 27-year-old is no fluke.

Not all down to you, Harry

However, it could certainly be argued Kane doesn’t need to fulfil that role with England as much as he does for Spurs.

At club level, only Son Heung-min is anywhere near matching his assist record.

On international duty, however, the creative outlets appear endless. Sterling, Rashford, Phil Foden, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Jadon Sancho – the list goes on.

So perhaps Kane should stick to being a traditional number nine when wearing an England shirt and let others do the hard work for him?

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Nathaniel Kay

Nathaniel is a football journalist who graduated from the University of Derby. He has worked at Burton Albion as part of their media team for two years. Nathaniel produces regular articles for the club’s official website and match-day programme. He covered the 2018 U20 Women’s World Cup in Brittany and has reported from grounds ranging from non-league up to the Premier League.