England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Harry Kane will captain the team in Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Slovenia at Wembley.

The Tottenham Hotspur striker has been given the armband on three occasions, but a permanent skipper is yet to be appointed.

Since Wayne Rooney announced his international retirement, the captaincy has been shared between Kane and Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, who also skippers his club.

Kane heads into this fixture on the back of scoring 13 goals for club and country in September alone, and Southgate spoke of the striker's strengths in his pre-match press conference.

"His leadership qualities are invaluable to us as a team and he is in a good moment," the Three Lions boss told reporters. "I have known him for a long time and he is improving all the time.

"I haven't decided yet [if we will have a full-time captain.] We saw potential leaders in the group at the start. What's important is that the lads who have led the team think about integrating the squad, the moments to step forward, the moments to have a quiet word with people. You are talking about leadership experience that comes over time."

England will seal qualification to next year's finals in Russia with one game against Lithuania to spare if they defeat Slovenia tomorrow evening.