EUROPE W’CUP QUALIFIER
England’s striker, Harry Kane has warned fellow players to remain calm if they are to beat Scotland in what is likely to be a “heated” 2018 World Cup qualifier.
England, who are top of Group F after three games, host fourth-placed Scotland at Wembley on Friday – the 113th meeting between the two nations.
“We’ve got to keep cool and keep focused,” said Tottenham striker Kane.
“It isn’t like another game where, if you lose, it doesn’t matter and you don’t hear about it too much.”
The two countries will meet for the first time in a competitive match since their two-legged Euro 2000 play-off in November 1999.
The match is a 90,000 sell-out with Scotland expected to be backed by around 10,000 fans.
“We have to use the atmosphere to our advantage,” said Kane. “We have to use all the positive energy and that passion to win the game.
“We know the Scottish players, we have Scottish friends who will make it heard if they beat us, so we obviously don’t want that and we’ll do all we can to try to win the game.
“There are going a lot of heated moments and tackles flying in, but we’ve got to keep cool and keep focused.”
Kane, 23, believes he is fit to start against the Scots after making his comeback at the weekend following a seven-week lay-off with an ankle injury.
England interim manager Gareth Southgate said the Tottenham striker would be carefully assessed after playing most of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
“The test was to see how I got on on Sunday. I played 70 minutes and felt good,” said Kane, who scored Spurs’s equaliser from the penalty spot.
“I’ll be training hard this week to try and get in the team for Friday.”
