Harry Kane becoming England captain could affect goalscoring form, says Roy Hodgson

Former England manager Roy Hodgson says giving the captaincy to Harry Kane could reduce his goalscoring ability

Roy Hodgson believes Harry Kane's goalscoring form may suffer if he is named England captain.

The Tottenham striker has 13 goals this season, despite not scoring in August, and says he would like to take the armband permanently after Wayne Rooney's retirement.

Kane captained England against France and Scotland, while Jordan Henderson led the side to wins over Slovakia and Malta.

But former England manager Hodgson says he would be wary of giving 24-year-old Kane the job of leading the team at the World Cup in Russia, if they qualify.

"I'd like to see him scoring goals and doing what he does best as a centre forward," said Hodgson.

"It could be that the captaincy could weigh on him and in some way impact upon that.

Kane wants to lead England to the World Cup in Russia next summer

"That will be for Gareth (Southgate) to decide, he'll have to look at those things."

Southgate has yet to make a decision on who will lead the team at the World Cup next summer, and Hodgson says the current England boss is spoilt for choice.

He added: "I think there are a number of potential captains in the team, but one thing is for sure that he (Kane) will play the captains' type role in his position and take responsibility.

Gareth Southgate is yet to decide who will replace Wayne Rooney as England's captain

"It's up to Gareth to decide if Kane gets the extra responsibility because being captain of England is a large burden in terms of mass media and public relations duties.

"I don't know what Gareth is thinking, but there's no doubt that Kane could be a captain of England, that goes in my opinion for one or two other players as well."

The Three Lions lead Group F by five points and a win at Wembley on Thursday over Slovenia would be enough to secure their qualification to the finals in Russia next summer.

Love,
Igor Nikitovic