THE WORD CAME last week from Martin O’Neill that the hopes had been dashed of Harry Kane lining out for the Boys In Green.
Kane is eligible for Ireland through his Galway-born father and speculation over a possible Ireland career has been definitely ended today after the in-form Spurs striker was called up by England manager Roy Hodgson.
England take on Lithuania in a Euro 2016 qualifier on 27 March and then face Italy in a friendly in Turin four days later.
Kane has been called up for the first time after a season that has seen him in prolific goalscoring form for the White Hart Lane club with 26 goals in all competitions. That’s more than any other Premier League player this season.
And there’s a lot of people happy to see the Spurs striker take the first steps in his England international career. Time for us to abandon the ‘Kane for Ireland’ campaign then.
The England squad in full is:
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling (all Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
Midfielders: Ross Barkley (Everton), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana (both Liverpool), James Milner (Manchester City), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Wayne Rooney (capt, Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
