Lee Carsley heaps praise on 'brilliant' Harry Kane and insists his 'goal record is something we should really appreciate' - as fit-again striker looks to lead England against Finland
- Three Lions' captain and record scorer missed 2-1 Greece debacle on Thursday
- His return is a boost to a side which has struggled with injuries of late
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Lee Carsley has heaped praise on Harry Kane as he stakes his hopes of a bounce-back victory over Finland on the newly-fit England captain.
The Three Lions slumped to a humiliating 2-1 defeat at the hands of Greece at Wembley on Thursday night, with the resulting damaging interim manager's chances of taking the job full-time.
A late equaliser from Jude Bellingham looked to have rescued a point after Vangelis Pavlidis opened the scoring in the 49th minute, but a stoppage-time goal sealed a brace for the Greek forward and condemned England to defeat.
Kane was missing from the squad having been ruled out with an ankle injury picked up for Bayern Munich in a Bundesliga match.
His absence was felt deeply with Carsley's attempt to play Bellingham in a false nine role appearing to backfire.
Lee Carsley has heaped praise on Harry Kane ahead of his England return against Finland
Kane has scored 68 goals in 100 caps including 15 vital strikes in major tournaments
Carsley hailed Kane's goalscoring records with both England and Tottenham during his career
Kane is back for the match in Helsinki, with Carsley hailing the 31-year-old's contribution to the side.
He said: 'They [Kane and Jack Grealish] both trained on Friday, they trained today, so in terms of their fitness everything's fine.
'What does Harry bring to the team? Having watched the games that he's played in and the influence that he has on the team, he leads by example, really good captain, great positive person to have around.
'We always have that when we've got something really good in front of us: we're always looking for the next big thing. But I think we should appreciate what we've got in front of us with Harry.
'His goalscoring speaks for itself, what he's done in the past should massively be respected and I think he's still got a lot of games and goals in him, hopefully.
Asked whether Kane, whose 68 goals in 100 caps have included 15 vital strikes in major tournaments, is still irreplaceable, Carsley said: 'He has proved that in the past with the impact that he has had.
'His goals record for England and Bayern and Tottenham is brilliant and something we should really appreciate.'
The Three Lions' captain suffered an injury competing for a ball in the second half of a Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
It appeared that Kane suffered an impact collision on his ankle following a tackle and he was withdrawn by Bayern boss Vincent Kompany.
Club physios could be seen attending to the striker's right leg as he lay in pain before Mathys Tel came on to replace him with roughly 20 minutes left.
Kane received treatment on his right leg from Bayern physios before leaving the pitch
Vangelis Pavlidis netted twice as Greece stunned Carsley's England side on Thursday night
Jude Bellingham thought he had won his side a point, only for them to concede moments later
Kane then surprisingly reported to England duty at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent along with the rest of the squad.
He was passed fit by England's medical staff but spent both Tuesday and Wednesday doing an individual programme rather than training with the group.
He did not quite make the clash against Greece, however, which saw the Three Lions fall to defeat.
Carsley, who is due to take charge of at least three more matches, raised eyebrows afterwards by saying he 'hopefully' can return to the Under-21s.
England face Finland on Sunday afternoon having beaten Markku Tapio Kanerva's side 2-0 at Wembley last month thanks to a Kane brace on his 100th cap.