Lee Carsley will not risk Harry Kane’s fitness in Wembley clash with Greece

Interim boss Lee Carsley says he “won’t take a chance” with Harry Kane’s fitness in England’s Nations League clash against Greece as the skipper deals with a knock.

A month on from celebrating his 100th cap with a match-winning brace against Finland, the 31-year-old could miss Thursday’s Wembley return against the Group B2 leaders.

Kane sustained a knock during Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga clash with Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday and has been unable to train with the group despite getting the green light to stay with England.

The skipper did an individual training programme on both Tuesday and Wednesday, with Carsley keen to be careful with the skipper ahead of facing Greece and Finland this Sunday.

“Harry’s nursing an injury, a small knock,” the interim England manager said. “Something that we won’t take a chance with.”

Asked to clarify whether Kane will be on the bench at Wembley, he said: “We’re not ruling him out yet of the game, but he won’t start the game.

“Hopefully he’ll be in contention then for Sunday (against Finland) but, again, time will tell. It’s not something I think we should be rushing.”

Kane’s issue means long-serving team-mate John Stones will lead England out as captain for the first time on the night of his 82nd cap.

“It was a great conversation that I was able to have with John last night, to have that responsibility to ask him to captain the team,” Carsley said.

“It’s a brilliant achievement for John. Something that he deserves – the amount of caps he’s got, the experience he’s got, the level of professionalism that he shows within the squad, the example he is to the younger players.

“It was a great conversation to have.”