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 honour and one I will cherish forever.”
One of the other big questions concerning selection this week has been whether Cole Palmer, who has been in fine form for Chelsea this season, will start the game on Thursday.
Asked whether Palmer, who was named England men’s Player of the Year for 2023-24 , has earned a place in his first 11, Carsley said: “Cole is in fantastic form. He has carried that into this week.
“He’s such an exciting player and one that I’ve worked with for four or five years now.
“Cole, along with a lot of the other attacking players, have put themselves in a great position to start the game.”
Hard graft ahead of Greece 💪 pic.twitter.com/Q5GxzYVhXP
— England (@England) October 9, 2024
Carsley also revealed that Jack Grealish could be a doubt to face Greece after the Manchester City player picked up a minor injury in training on Tuesday.
But, like Kane, Carsley refused to rule him out completely.
“Our attitude would be that we wouldn’t gamble with any of the players,” Carsley added.
“It’s important that we put them first rather than ourselves.”
It was also confirmed on Wednesday that Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones and Newcastle full-back Tino Livramento have been added to the squad.
The uncapped duo have been drafted in after Kobbie Mainoo, Ezri Konsa and Morgan Gibbs-White were forced to pull out due to injury.
England host Greece on Thursday before a trip to Finland on Sunday.
