Roy Hodgson: 'Harry Kane wants to represent England at U21 level this summer'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 02 April 2015

England manager Roy Hodgson claims that Harry Kane will not harm his chances of shining at senior level in the long term should he represent the Under-21s this summer.

Roy Hodgson has revealed that Harry Kane wants to link up with England Under-21s for this summer's Euro 2015 in order to "finish the job" that he has started.

The 21-year-old was drafted into the senior Three Lions squad for games against Lithuania and Italy this week, where he made an instant impression by getting off the mark a little over a minute into his debut.

Young Lions boss Gareth Southgate remains confident that Kane will represent England at the U21 Euros later this year, despite fears from club side Tottenham Hotspur that their star man could face severe fatigue, and Hodgson says that the striker will almost certainly feature in the tournament.

"Harry wants to go with the Under-21s," he told reporters. "He wants to finish the job that he has done. He's had to work his way into the team and in my conversations with him it has been pretty obvious to me he would like to play in this tournament.

"Harry can play an important part and maybe help them go far. That certainly won't hurt his chances in the first team and I am happy to back him."

Should Kane play for the Under-21s, he will miss out on the end-of-season fixtures against Republic of Ireland and Slovenia for the senior side.