Harry Kane singles out three England players after slamming stars for pulling out of squad

Harry Kane singles out three England players after slamming stars for pulling out of squad

Harry Kane has hailed Curtis Jones, Morgan Rogers and Lewis Hall after the trio made their England debuts in their superb 3-0 win at Greece on Thursday night - after coming down hard on a group of players who withdrew from the squad.

A new-look England avenged their shock 2-1 loss to the Greeks last month with a thumping victory in Athens as a number of inexperienced Three Lions stars stepped up amid the absences.

A total of eight players missed the latest international break as Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Jack Grealish, Levi Colwill, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Ramsdale all dropped out.

Kane was far from happy following the news and said he "didn't like" the withdrawals, insisting England should come before club in the pecking order for a footballer.

But after England's terrific win that moved them top of their Nations League group, Kane switched his attention to England's new trio after they all made their bows in Greece - with Jones enjoying a superb debut with the third goal.

He wrote on Twitter after the game: "What a shift from all the boys! Massive win to have the group in our hands. Congrats Lewis, Morgan and Curtis on your debuts."

Before the game, Kane told ITV Sport: "I think England comes before anything. England comes before club. England is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer and Gareth [Southgate] was hot on that and he wasn't afraid to make decisions if, you know, that started to drift from certain players."

"It's a shame this week obviously. I think it's a tough period of the season, maybe that's been taken advantage of a little bit. I don't really like it if I'm totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation."

Meanwhile, Bellingham decided not to discuss the players who weren't present and instead focus on the ones who stepped up as he heaped praise on Jones.

“A lot was made of the lads that weren't here, but I think the lads that did show up were amazing," he said. "Curtis [Jones] making his debut, scoring, playing as he did, amazing. Really proud of the boys tonight."

England's last game of the international break sees them host Republic of Ireland - with promotion back to League A in the Nations League all but guaranteed.

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