Southgate confirms Harry Kane will start against Czech Republic

Kane

was toothless in the frustrating goalless draw with

Scotland

on Friday and also failed to shine in their narrow 1-0 win over

Croatia

, finding himself substituted in both games even though they were in the balance. England’s attack has spluttered so far and there have even been calls in some quarters for Kane to be dropped, with questions hovering about his fitness.

However, the Three Lions’ coach confirmed the Tottenham striker will start when his side take on the

Czech Republic

on Tuesday and reiterated that he intends to build the team around him, maintaining the forward will play himself back into form.

"You can assume that, yes, absolutely,"

Southgate replied when asked if Kane would keep his place

.

"He is fundamental not only to the goals he scores but the build-up play and everything else he brings.

"I know there will be a lot of questions being asked about him at the moment but he has been through that 100 times before and I have answered that in this role several times in the past and he has come up with the goals that have won us the next games and I expect that to be the same moving forward."

Southgate also went on to explain why he had taken Kane off in both matches so far this summer and hailed the 27-year-old striker as his key man.

"In one of the games we were already ahead and we needed energy to press and keep the lead, we didn't need an additional goal,"

he told ITV Sport

.

"Harry, during the World Cup, we ended up with him playing a lot of football and we've felt the need to manage that load a little bit this time and we have got good options on the bench to bring people into the game.

"But he is our most important player, there is no doubt about that, you've only got to look at his goalscoring record with us to see his importance to the team."

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