England boss Gareth Southgate has claimed that Harry Kane's goalscoring form over the past three seasons is in large part down to the work of Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Mauricio Pochettino.
The 24-year-old, who finished as the Premier League's top scorer in each of the past two seasons, has picked up from where he left off by netting 13 goals in his last eight games for club and country.
Southgate will call upon Kane for next week's World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania, along with clubmates Eric Dier and Dele Alli, and the Three Lions manager believes that the trio are benefiting from Pochettino's training-ground methods.
"The biggest change [for Kane] has been physical," he told reporters. "Since Mauricio has been there the conditioning work they do has improved the team and Harry has benefited from that. He looks strong, lean, a little bit quicker and sharper.
"The biggest change has been physical, and then that has an effect on your mentality. If you know you're in good physical condition then mentally you're in a better place. It was the same at Southampton.
"I know Jesus [Perez], Mauricio's assistant, is in charge of that area of their training, and we noticed a definite difference that allowed them to play the pressing game they want to play. There was a definite impact on all the Spurs players from their club training."
England require two points from their final batch of qualifiers, with Kane expected to start the first of those against Slovenia on Thursday night.
Daniel Lewis
