Rice: England will never doubt Kane

Declan Rice and his England team-mates will never doubt Harry Kane, despite the Three Lions captain’s failure to score in the World Cup group stage.

England scored nine goals en route to finishing top of Group B but Kane is yet to get off the mark in Qatar.

Kane, who won the Golden Boot in Russia four years ago and is just two behind Wayne Rooney’s record haul of 53 Three Lions strikes, has created three of England’s goals, becoming the first English player to provide three assists at a World Cup since David Beckham in 2002.

But Rice has full faith Kane will come up with the goods in the knockout stage.

“I don’t think we should ever doubt Harry,” the midfielder said at a press conference on Thursday. “His goalscoring record speaks for itself, what he’s done for England.

“If you’re looking, it’s two assists now, against Iran for [Raheem] Sterling and the other night for Phil [Foden, against Wales].

“He’s adapted his role now, where he likes to drop in a lot more, and link the play. I think that’s where it’s good, where we have fast runners.

“We’re all rooting for him to score. He’s our captain, that’s what we need. I’m sure he will. He’ll score in the knockout stages now.”

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Rice started his third game in a row at the tournament against Wales on Tuesday, but saw close friend Mason Mount dropped as part of a reshuffle.

The Chelsea playmaker has often come under fire on social media as a perceived favourite for Gareth Southgate, but Rice said Mount’s achievements speak for themselves.

“I don’t need to talk too much about Mase,” Rice said. “You know he is one of the best players I’ve played with. I think that’s why Gareth is so keen on him.

“He’s just a team player. His numbers at Chelsea are incredible. He’s won the Champions League, won the Super Cup, and for the rest of his career, he can go on and be whatever he wants to be.

“Let [him] go and do his thing. When he’s doing that, it makes me happy seeing my good friend go and perform at the best level.”