England interim manager Lee Carsley has confirmed that Harry Kane is not fit to start Thursday's UEFA Nations League clash with Greece at Wembley.
The Three Lions captain sustained an injury during Bayern Munich's Bundesliga clash with Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend and has been following an individual training programme since linking up with his international teammates.
As Kane is yet to join in with full training, there was an expectation that he would only be on the bench at best on Thursday evening, and Carsley has now confirmed that will be the case, but he is optimistic that he will be able to start against Finland on Sunday.
"Harry's nursing an injury, a small knock. It's something that we won't take a chance with. We're not ruling him out yet of the game, but he won't start," The Athletic quotes Carsley as saying. "Hopefully he will be in contention for Sunday, but again, time will tell. It's not something we should be rushing."
Kane's absence from the starting XI means that the 31-year-old will be temporarily relinquishing the captain's armband, and Manchester City's John Stones has been confirmed as skipper for Thursday evening.
Carsley: 'Example Stones deserves England captain opportunity'
The Manchester City defender is the third-most experienced player in the England squad with 81 caps, only behind Kane's 100 and Kyle Walker's 90, and he captained Pep Guardiola's side against Red Star Belgrade in the 2023-24 Champions League.
Stones's influence at the Etihad has waned slightly over the past couple of seasons, but Carsley has no doubts that the "example" defender is worthy of wearing the armband for his country.
"It was a great conversation that I was able to have with John last night. To ask him to captain the team, it's a brilliant achievement for John, something that he deserves," Carsley added.
"With the amount of caps that he's got, the experience that he's got, the level of professionalism that he shows within the squad, the example he is to the younger players, it was a great conversation to have."
Stones - who made his England debut a decade ago - joined Carsley to face the media on the eve of the game, and the ex-Everton man admitted that he was lost for words when told by Carsley that he would skipper the side.
"Speechless" John Stones reacts to England captaincy
"It's everything that I could have dreamed of as a kid, and more for my family, to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment," Stones added.
"And one that I can't thank Lee enough for. As he said, it was a great conversation that we had last night. One that I was a bit speechless in, but an incredible moment for me."
Kane is one of two fitness doubts for England ahead of Thursday's game, the other being Manchester City winger Jack Grealish, who missed training on Wednesday with a slight knock.
Carsley suggested that he would not "gamble" on the fitness of Grealish, who started in the number 10 role against the Republic of Ireland and Finland last month, but Cole Palmer could now come into that position.
England will go three points clear of Greece at the top of League B Group 2 with victory over the Pirate Ship on Thursday evening, before heading to Helsinki for a rematch against Finland on Sunday. body check tags ::
