Lee Carsley has insisted that he “definitely didn’t drop” Harry Kane, and reiterated that England’s captain will return to the starting line-up against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday. Carsley made the brave decision to play Ollie Watkins ahead of Kane for Thursday night’s 3-0 win in Greece,

England interim head coach Lee Carsley has attempted to play down Harry Kane 's criticism of the squad's long list of absentees for this month's internationals, repeatedly insisting that he is only focused on the players who have reported for duty.

Lee Carsley was proud of the way England took control of their Nations League destiny and praised “great example” Harry Kane after surprisingly dropping the skipper for the must-win match in Greece.

England interim manager Lee Carsley says his decision to drop captain Harry Kane was “no slight” on the striker after their Nations League victory over Greece.

Its important that I think if we are going to put these players in a position where we are going to go and win the World Cup then they need to have as many experiences as they can. So, it was no slight on Harry.

The Three Lions made light of their star absences to keep alive their hopes of promotion to the Nations League's top tier. Read more at straitstimes.com.

In a surprise move, England's interim coach left captain Harry Kane on the bench for the Nations League match against Greece on Thursday and the youthful team eased to a 3-0 win in Athens. It was a far cry from a month ago when Carsley boldly picked a team featuring no recognized strikers — Kane was injured on that occasion — and full of midfielders,

Lee Carsley has named his England team to take on Greece in the UEFA Nations League this evening.Harry Kane drops to the bench in the biggest call from the interim boss, with Ollie Watkins preferred