England interim boss Lee Carsley said that Harry Kane had no issues when he came off the bench against Greece in the UEFA Nations League.
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Kane had no problem coming off the bench
Despite nine withdrawals from the England team, Carsley decided to omit the team captain from the starting lineup in Athens.
Still, the Three Lions came away with a 3-0 win through Ollie Watkins’ seventh-minute opener, a Odisseas Vlachodimos own goal, and Curtis Jones’ late back-flick.
Carsley assured that Kane, who will earn his 103rd cap, will make the starting lineup against Republic of Ireland.
“He was absolutely fine [with being left out],” said Carsley. “I think it would be fair to say he wants to play every game, like all top players do. But I think he understands that it’s important that other players experience that kind of experience that we had tonight.”
“He’s a great example to the rest of the players. I expect him to start on Sunday and play well.”
“It was brilliant for Ollie to get a goal. I think it is important that if we are going to put these players in a position where we are going to go and win the World Cup then these players need to have as many experiences as they can. It was no slight on Harry. He will start the next game.”
Young players stepped up
Carsley, who is also England’s under-21 coach, relied heavily on youth.
He gave three players their debuts — Jones started, while Morgan Rogers and Lewis Hall came off the bench.
The decision to rely on young players paid off as England exacted revenge for a 2-1 home defeat by Greece last month.
“I definitely have faith in younger players but I have faith in older ones as well,” he said.
“When you saw the team you may have thought it was a gamble or risk but I’ve seen evidence and it’s been backed up.”
“We talk about the performance at Wembley [when] we tried something that didn’t come off but tonight was very similar in terms of a lot of players that didn’t have that experience of playing for England. But now they have that under their belts they’ve come to Greece and dominated the game, I think it’ll put us in good stead for the fut
