England 'Plan B' emerges as Dominic Solanke and Ollie Watkins battle to replace Harry Kane
Lee Carsley is confident England have a "Plan B" in Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke after confirming that captain Harry Kane will not start against Greece.
Kane has sat out England training this week after suffering a leg injury for Bayern Munich at the weekend, with Aston Villa's Watkins and Tottenham striker Solanke poised to deputise in the Nations League game at Wembley.
"Harry is a doubt," Carsley said. "We’re still waiting on him and we’re going to give him as much time as we can and make that decision a bit later."
Watkins made his mark on the national team with a brilliant winner in the European Championship semi-final in the summer, while Solanke is back in the squad after a seven year absence.
"They both fully deserve to be here," Carsley continued. "The form they’ve both been in is very good. I spoke to them both about how important it is to stay in and around the squad. Not so much Ollie but more Dom – that challenge to stay, to keep being consistent at Spurs and keep putting in the performances.
"Along with a few of the players who can play at No 9, we’ve got plenty of options in that position but obviously Harry’s been the outstanding player for so long for us now. But I feel like we’ve definitely got a Plan B."
Kane has been working indoors on an individualised training programme since joining up with the squad on Monday and will hope to be fit to face Finland in Helsinki on Sunday.
Jack Grealish, who started both last month's Nations League games under Carsley, also sat out training on Wednesday with a knock.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Ezri Konsa and Kobbie Mainoo all pulled out of the original squad following last weekend's domestic matches, with Carsley calling up two more of his former Under-21 charges, Newcastle full-back Tino Livramento and Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones.
Solanke won his only cap in 2017 but was thereafter overlooked by former boss Gareth Southgate, but Carsley says the Spurs forward is a great example to other players who have fallen off the radar. He name-checked AC Milan pair Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham, and mentioned Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis as a promising prospect.
"What you find with this job is players will come in and out of the pathway," said Carsley, who has been on the Football Association's books on and off since 2015.
"Dom is a brilliant example of a player that’s gone away, recovered from his injury, been a really consistent player at Bournemouth and then got the opportunity at Spurs.
"Off the top of my head you look at Fikayo Tomori at AC Milan, I’m constantly watching him. Tammy Abraham, constantly watching him. Players that have got brilliant reputations within our pathway. I don’t think you’re ever too far away from being in the squad."
Carsley, though, admitted he is conscious of the ever-dwindling number of English players in the Premier League and says recruiting talented youngsters with dual nationality for England is essential.
"It’s definitely something we’re aware of," he said. "It’s something Gareth brought to my attention – well to everyone’s attention – a while back in terms of the pool of players to choose from.
"Where we’ve improved of late is the dual nationality rule, trying to be a little bit more proactive in terms of our recruitment and those players who are dual nationality, making sure they have really good experiences in the pathway and get them used to being in England shirts and around St George’s."
