Graeme Souness has labelled Harry Kane "selfish" for playing on with an injury during England's 6-2 win against Iran on Monday.
Kane, 29, suffered a knock in England's opening game of the World Cup but played on for several minutes before being substituted by Gareth Southgate. He was passed fit to play for the United States fixture on Friday but failed to open his account for the tournament.
Southgate's side laboured to a goalless draw against the US to leave their World Cup prospects in doubt. England will qualify for the last 16 if they avoid a heavy defeat to Wales on Tuesday, but their performance against the US has left many critics wondering if they're good enough to challenge the likes of France and Brazil for the trophy.
"My view is that Harry Kane was selfish against Iran on Monday - staying on the field for 27 minutes after suffering an ankle injury, even though England were 3-0 up," Souness told the Daily Mail.
"Gareth Southgate needed to protect Kane from himself there but failed to do so. Kane has historical issues with his ankles and the injury was serious enough for him to need a scan but he needlessly played on. I know from experience that the ankle can be complex."
Souness believes Kane should have left the pitch and treated the ankle immediately using the 'RICE' technique, which involves rest, ice, compression and elevation. "Harry would have wanted to play on for 27 minutes because he saw goals in the game," added Souness.
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"He has that selfish streak that all great strikers possess. It looks like he got away with one there. Hopefully, there’s not an issue with his ankle in this tournament and it doesn’t come back to bite him... If England are to go far, they need Kane firing."
Kane played well against Iran - providing two assists - and has enjoyed a good start to the season with Tottenham after scoring 12 goals in 15 Premier League games. Yet he wasted a priceless opportunity in the latter stages of Friday's game against the US.
"It was a game that we wanted to win and wanted to finish top of the group tonight pretty much, but it was a tough game," Kane told the BBC. "They are a well organised and athletic team and they caused us some problems as well.
"We are really happy with the clean sheet and the point puts us in a strong position going into the last game. We know we can be more clinical, it was probably the opposite from the first game. We'll go away and look at the positives and negatives."
Kane went on to say: "We are playing really good, though teams, who are fighting for their World Cup lives and we have to respect that. The most important thing was to not lose today. If win on Tuesday, we top the group."
If Wales want to progress, they must beat England on Tuesday and hope the other game between Iran and the US finishes in a draw. Rob Page's side lost 2-0 to Iran on Friday.
