Gareth Southgate says England star Harry Kane is fit to face Wales at 2022 World Cup but may seek 'freshness'
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Updated 28/11/2022 at 17:00 GMT
England will look to return to winning ways when they finish their group campaign at the 2022 World Cup against Wales. Gareth Southgate's side were held to a 0-0 draw last time out by USA but are in a strong position to qualify. Southgate has spoken about Harry Kane's fitness, the potential of making changes to his starting XI, and why he's not there to be "giving caps out".
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Gareth Southgate says Harry Kane is fit to play in England’s final World Cup Group B game against Wales, but he needs to "balance freshness with stability".
Kane hasn’t scored yet in Qatar and was not involved much in the goalless draw with United States last time out.
He appeared to suffer a foot injury after a heavy tackle in the opening 6-2 win over Iran but scans showed there was not any damage.
Asked about Kane's fitness, England manager Southgate said: "Harry's fine in terms of the knock he had, everybody keeps saying it's his ankle but it's his foot.
"At this point we've got pretty much the whole group to select from which is a great position to be it. It makes decisions difficult of course, but what you want is a fully-fit squad and that's where we're at."
Despite a below-par display against the USA, England are in a strong position heading into the Wales clash on Tuesday evening.
Anything other than a four-goal defeat will see the 2018 semi-finalists advance.
But Southgate said: "We want to win football matches. We have got to balance freshness with stability so that is always the decision we are making when picking the team.
"There is a lot for both teams resting on it, there is no game where there isn't pressure.
"Our performance is the key, we played well in the first game and scored a lot of goals. The second was tougher. Obviously we're going to pick a team that we believe can win the game.”
Southgate’s team selection is likely to be under the spotlight.
Against USA he was criticised for not introducing Phil Foden as England looked for a winner, and now the focus might be on making changes with the last 16 in mind.
"We have 26 players, but we have a major tournament,” said Southgate.
"It is not about giving caps out. We have a brilliant group. Players will be disappointed if they're not playing and if we have other camps throughout the year we try to give minutes when we can.
"But in a World Cup you can't be thinking that way. We are fortunate we have really good professionals, but I know it is tough.
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Will Phil Foden (L) start for England against Wales?
Image credit: Getty Images
"The squad has been ready in previous tournaments and supported us throughout."
Wales' hopes of qualifying are basically out of their hands. The only way they can guarantee a spot in the knockouts is a four-goal win over England, although they will also advance with a less impressive win if the United States and Iran draw in the other Group B match.
On the challenge of facing Wales, Southgate said: "They obviously have some world-class players who can produce moments of brilliance.
"They have a good spirit and organisation and we know the quality of the Ukraine team they beat to get to these finals and they have additional motivation to play against England.
"So we have to be prepared for all of those things and focus on our own performance."
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