Captain reiterates need to maintain Southgate’s inclusive environment as he gets ready to compete for place in team

For Harry Kane, it has been a time for straight-talking. The England captain did row back slightly on his comments from Wednesday – the bombshell ones when he wondered whether the unprecedented number of withdrawals from the squad for this window was the result of players “taking advantage” of a tough period in the season.

At one point, as Kane took a break from the preparations for Sunday’s Nations League tie against Republic of Ireland at Wembley – the final game of Lee Carsley’s interim tenure – he expressed a surprise at the wall-to-wall coverage his words had driven. Memo to Harry: Seriously?