John Stones will captain England for the very first time in the Nations League clash with Greece on Thursday while Harry Kane is set to miss the game, interim manager Lee Carsley has announced.
Kane has been a doubt for the game at Wembley after suffering a leg injury while playing for Bayern Munich on Sunday and has been training alone this week.
While Carsley stopped short of ruling Kane out of the game entirely, he confirmed England’s record goalscorer will not start the match and revealed that John Stones will take the captain’s armband in Kane’s absence.
At his press conference on Wednesday, the interim boss said: “Harry is nursing an injury. A small knock. It’s something that we won’t take a chance with.
“It was a great conversation that I was able to have with John [Stones] to have that responsibility, to ask him to captain the team. It’s a brilliant achievement for John and something that he deserves.
“The amount of caps he’s got, the experience he’s got, the level of professionalism he shows within the squad, the example he is to the younger players – it was a great conversation to have.”
England go into the game following back-to-back 2-0 victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland, and will look to maintain their 100% record under Carsley against Greece.
“An honour that I’ll cherish forever.”
John Stones on what it will mean to captain the #ThreeLions at @wembleystadium on Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/QNZxsNZnzi
— England (@England) October 9, 2024
And Stones, who played every minute of the Three Lions’ run to the final of Euro 2024, could not hide his excitement at the prospect of leading his country out at Wembley.
“It’s definitely everything I dreamed of as a kid,” said Stones.
“For my family to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment and one that I can’t thank Lee [Carsley] enough for.
“To be walking out with the armband on is an absolute…
Author : George Nash
Publish date : 2024-10-09 20:54:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
The post Stones to captain England against Greece with Kane set to miss out through injury first appeared on Foot & Soccer.
—-
Author : footsoccer
Publish date : 2024-10-09 21:25:43
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.