Harry Kane has given England a major scare after being sent for a scan on an ankle injury, with the skipper facing an anxious wait to see if he will be fit to face the United States in the Three Lions' next World Cup game.
Kane started his side's dominant 6-2 win over Iran in their opening match of the tournament in Qatar. But he appeared to pick up a problem with his ankle five minutes into the second-half after a tackle from behind by Morteza Pouraliganji.
The striker was able to carry on for 25 more minutes before being taken off for Newcastle United star Callum Wilson. England boss Gareth Southgate had played down the extent of Kane's injury in the aftermath of the win, though Kane was seen walking with a limp.
But it now appears that Southgate's confidence in Kane's fitness may have been slightly misplaced. Kane will have a scan on his ankle before the Three Lions take on the United States on Friday night.
The FA are said to be assessing his injury after Kane took part in a warm down on Tuesday, with the issue clearly enough of a problem for the medics to send him for a scan. Southgate will be hoping it is nothing serious and will not affect his preparations ahead of the Group match with the United States.
The fact it has been enough to see Kane go for further checks will have England fans worried about their top scorer and biggest goal threat. News of the severity of the injury and whether Kane will miss out will come on Wednesday, if he was ruled out it would be a devastating blow to Southgate’s chances of winning the World Cup..
Kane claimed two assists during the dominant win over Iran, setting up both Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford.
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He was not on the scoresheet himself, but needs just three more goals to become England’s all-time record goalscorer. Southgate had given little indication that there would be concerns over Kane's fitness for the game against the US on Monday.
"I think Harry's fine. It looked like a bad tackle but he carried on in the game. We took him off because we felt it was a moment in the game we could do that," the England boss said in his post-match press conference.
"Really pleased with our attacking play. We know that Iran are usually very difficult to score goals against, so it's a credit to our players, the way their movement, the quality of our passes, the quality of our finishing.
"I didn't like the end of the game. To concede two goals the way we did, isn't the level we need. So we're going to have to be better than the level we were today in certain aspects of our game against the USA."
And Kane himself delivered an upbeat message following England's win, with few signs he was carrying an injury.
"Obviously a really good start to the World Cup campaign. Full credit to the boys, you know it's never easy getting off to a winning start in a major tournament," Kane said in a video message posted on Twitter.
"To score six goals shows we're in a really good place. Still a lot of work to do of course, we know that. Overall, really pleasing. Congrats to Jude for his first England goal, no better place to do it.
"Bukayo on fire with two great finishes so everyone out there today done their country proud and we move on to the next one now. So thanks for your support back home. Let's keep it going for the next game against the USA."
