IT is not a panic-stations scenario just yet.
Gareth Southgate will resist the temptation to order a job lot of prayer mats or ring up Uri Geller for a spot of psychic healing.
England skipper and Spurs striker Harry Kane has an insatiable appetite to play but faces being out until April at the very earliest
Marcus Rashford aggravated a back injury after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer felt compelled to bring him on against Wolves in the FA Cup replay
After all, there are still five months to go until Euro 2020 and there are six Englishmen in the top nine of the Premier League goalscoring charts.
And yet the sight of a stricken Marcus Rashford clutching his injured back and lasting for just 16 minutes of Manchester United’s FA Cup victory over Wolves will have been a cause of serious worry for England manager Southgate.
In Harry Kane and Rashford, Southgate’s two most-trusted striking options both come with fitness concerns.
At Tottenham and Manchester United, Kane and Rashford are the ‘one of our own’, home-grown forwards carrying huge responsibilities at clubs who are deficient in the striking department and struggling to reach the Champions League places.
There is huge pressure on both men — some of it self-generated — and the threat of burn-out is real.
Kane, England’s captain and first-choice No 9, is out until at least April after having surgery on a torn hamstring — the fifth time in just over three years he has suffered an extensive injury lay-off.
ALMOST INSANE HUNGER
And a leading orthopaedic surgeon backed up Jose Mourinho’s slip earlier this week that Kane could be missing for even longer and struggle to make the Euros.
Dr Chris Wilson said: “I would expect it to be six months before he could return to action. I would say, ‘Aim for getting fit for pre-season training’.
“I am aware in Harry Kane’s case they have been saying April or May — I have to say I would be very surprised.”
Also, with Spurs lacking a genuine alternative at centre-forward, there is an obvious risk of Kane, 26, coming back too soon. Many at Spurs believe Kane should not have started the Champions League final last June so soon after recovering from an ankle injury.
Kane’s talismanic status, as well as his almost insane hunger to play, means his workload is especially difficult to manage.
If Kane tells you he is fit, it takes a brave manager not to start him. Even the hard-nosed Mauricio Pochettino used to struggle with this.
Rashford’s impressive campaign, in which he has proved himself as one of United’s most important players, is an obvious plus for Southgate.
Yet with United also lacking experienced options up front, Rashford — like Kane — has become a player his club manager is tempted to gamble on when half-fit.
Wednesday’s Cup replay was a prime example, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer openly admitting that he did not want to play the Mancunian but felt compelled to throw him on as a second-half sub with the match still goalless.
Rashford, 22, ended up aggravating an ongoing back problem and is now a major doubt for Sunday’s visit to Liverpool — not that United have given up on sending him out on to the front line again.
He is another young English player willing — perhaps too willing — to put his body on the line and play through pain.
This is an admirable old-school English quality — the spirit of a blood-spattered Terry Butcher and all that.
But Southgate would hope that clubs like United and Tottenham had sufficient resources to be able to use their players sensibly.
The England manager’s Plan A is to employ Rashford out wide alongside Kane and Raheem Sterling. Should Kane fail to make it, Plan B would see Rashford switch to centre-forward in a more fluid front three, including Jadon Sancho.
The impressive form of Southampton’s Danny Ings (14 Premier League goals) and Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham (13) means England have better options up front than they have enjoyed in a generation.
Yet neither Ings nor Abraham are established internationals. And while Abraham may progress and become an England starter, he is not yet thought ready to lead the line at a major tournament.
United teenager Mason Greenwood, while an outstanding prospect, is surely too young for this summer. These Euros also feel too soon for Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The wildcard option is Jamie Vardy — out on his own in the Golden Boot standings with 17 goals and with a 66 per cent shots-on-target ratio, which is far higher than any of his fellow English goalscorers.
Leicester hitman Vardy, of course, retired from internationals after the 2018 World Cup but with the caveat that he would answer an SOS call in the event of an injury crisis — meaning if he would actually get to start!
Southgate, a man of honour and integrity, would be loath to take that nuclear option and snub players who did the hard yards in remote parts of Eastern Europe during the qualifying campaign.
Yet should neither Kane nor Rashford be fully fit, wouldn’t the England manager be cutting off his nose to spite his face by ignoring Vardy?
This is a tournament at which, if England went all the way, they would play five of their seven fixtures at Wembley — and therefore represents one of their best chances to end a 54-year wait for a major trophy.
Southgate is living with that pressure during this interminable waiting period, in which he has just two friendlies — against Italy and Denmark in March — to occupy him.
The rest of the time will be spent largely fretting about form and fitness concerns.
And this month he will surely be hoping that Tottenham and United buy in an experienced striker apiece, to ease the burden on Kane and Rashford.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
