Lee Carsley defends England selection: ‘I certainly didn’t drop Harry Kane’

Lee Carsley has insisted he “definitely didn’t drop” Harry Kane and reiterated the England captain will return to the starting line-up against Ireland on Sunday.

Carsley made the brave decision to play Ollie Watkins ahead of Kane for Thursday night’s 3-0 win in Greece, but it paid off as the Aston Villa striker scored early on before England secured the goal-line lead they needed to to maintain their hopes of promotion in the Nations League. alive.

But after the game, Carsley sought to confirm Kane’s importance to the England squad, praising his efforts in recent months and claiming the Bayern Munich forward had not actually been “dropped”. His argument was that his decision was for Watkins to start, rather than against Kane.

“I certainly didn’t drop Harry Kane,” insisted Carsley. “He’s done well for me every game he’s played and been involved in. It wasn’t a case of being dropped, far from it. It was just a case of giving somebody an opportunity.”

Carsley said on Thursday night that Kane was “perfectly fine” with his demotion to the bench. But several sources familiar with the situation, who have spoken on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, have said Athletics that he was unhappy with the decision.

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Carsley pointed to Watkins’ development and said England would benefit from him playing more big games at international level. “Ollie is playing in the Champions League with Villa, he is doing really well, the same with Morgan Rogers. It’s great that he got a goal, looks like a good decision doesn’t it? At the end of the day, he should take a lot of credit and confidence from tonight.”

Kane will return to the side when Ireland come to Wembley on Sunday. If England win it, they will top the group, avoid a play-off, and Carsley will be able to look back on his mini-stint as a success.

“He’s playing on Sunday, he’s starting,” Carsley said. “He’s captain, he’s so important to the team. It was just a case tonight of looking at something else and giving someone else the experience who hasn’t had many chances to do it yet. No more than that .”

England were lifted by Jude Bellingham on Thursday, who produced one of his best international performances, released in a No.10 role.

He was involved in England’s first two goals and Carsley praised his maturity. “He always plays with responsibility,” the interim manager said of Bellingham.

“I know we only see it during games, but he does it in training, he leads by example, he’s a really good person to have around because people want to root for him and compete with him. You have seen tonight that a level of players are coming into the squad that will certainly raise the bar.”

(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)