England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed he is not concerned by the premature departures of both Harry Kane and Harry Maguire during his side’s 6-2 victory over Iran on Monday.
Tottenham striker Kane appeared to injure his ankle shortly after half-time but soldiered on until closer to the end of the game, after which he was seen with strapping around his ankle as he left the stadium.
As for Maguire, he was forced off after Mehdi Taremi’s first goal with what many assumed was a concussion but has since been revealed to be illness.
Fortunately for England, who continue their World Cup journey against the USA on Friday, Southgate is not worried about either player.
“[Maguire] felt ill and he had flagged it just before the goal and given the state of the game, he felt there was no point carrying on,” Southgate revealed after the match. “Other than that, I haven’t seen anything of concern.”
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On Kane, he added: “I think Harry is fine. It looked a bad tackle but he carried on in the game and we took him off because he felt there was a moment we could do that.”
With no fresh fitness concerns to worry about, Southgate’s focus remains on steering both Kyle Walker and James Maddison back to full fitness.
Walker made the bench against Iran but did not feature in the game, while Maddison was left out altogether as he continues to struggle with a hamstring injury that has limited his involvement in training sessions in Qatar.
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