Nov 17,2024
England captain Harry Kane reserved praise for "great finisher" Evan Ferguson as the Republic of Ireland's Nations League clash at Wembley looms.
The Boys in Green will face Group B2 leaders in their final fixture of the group campaign with automatic relegation staved off and a play-off against a runner-up from League C to come in March.
England, meanwhile, will be aiming to seal automatic promotion back to League A by beating Heimir Hallgrimsson's side.
Ferguson netted the Irish winner against Finland on Thursday and Kane admitted he was wary of the threat the Meathman possesses.
"I appreciate good strikers who score goals and he seems to be able to do that quite well. So it will be a good game but I think their biggest threat is (Ireland) as a team and them as a unit and we need to be careful with that because obviously they're going to want to come to Wembley and try to get a result."
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
He also had praise for goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher whose penalty save went a long way towards helping Ireland keep a clean sheet against the Finns.
"He's a really good keeper. We played against him even when we played away (at the Aviva Stadium in September) and won 2-0 but it probably could have been a little bit more if it wasn't for him," Kane said of the Liverpool shot-stopper.
"He had a really good game personally, so I know he's a really good keeper, he's a good shot-stopper and he's obviously had some good penalty shootout wins at Wembley as well.
"Let's see what happens. I back myself against any keeper and if I get one (penalty) tomorrow, hopefully I can put it away."
Kane was left out of interim manager Lee Carsley's starting line-up for England's 3-0 win over Greece on Thursday, with his pre-match criticism of the withdrawal of a number of a host of his regular Three Lions team-mates garnering attention.
However, the Bayern Munich striker said his comments had been misconstrued and that he "didn't see it as being dropped".
Kane added: "People like to maybe cause some controversy but for me it was just being ready when called upon and obviously the boss said he wanted to give Ollie (Watkins) that experience out in Greece.
"As England captain, you just get ready for the opportunity which was coming off the bench to try and help the team see the game out and then obviously tomorrow at Wembley, an important game for us to finish top of the group."
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
As for his soon-to-be six-game run in temporary charge of England's senior side before he returns to lead their Under-21s, the former Ireland and Everton midfielder outlined the pros and cons.
"It's been challenging. I think it's fair to say that I've been out of my comfort zone as have the rest of the staff," Carsley said.
"You want to do a good job, you want to show the people that put the trust in you to do the job that you're capable of doing it and hopefully we can leave the squad in a good position."
While he remained tight-lipped on whether he would be interested in becoming Ireland senior manager at some point in the future, the 50-year-old said the experience of being involved in the head-to-head with the Boys in Green back in September had been personally poignant.
"I thought the game in Dublin was a really good test, a great occasion, a proud moment for myself for many reasons and I'm looking forward to the game now on Sunday."
