Kane to captain England again as Heaton and Butland share goalkeeping duties

Harry Kane will again captain England for Tuesday’s friendly with France, while Tom Heaton and Jack Butland will share the goalkeeping duties at the Stade de France.

Kane was skipper for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier with Scotland at Hampden Park, which saw the Tottenham striker rescue a 2-2 draw for England late on after Leigh Griffiths had turned the game in the hosts’ favour – beating Joe Hart with a pair of free-kicks.

Hart is not going to feature in Saint-Denis but Kane’s leadership abilities will be put to the test once more, though manager Gareth Southgate denied the forward is in pole position to wear the armband permanently.

He told a media conference: “I’m not committing to a timescale on that. It’s been good experience to develop other leaders, we’re seeing that in terms of the way the group are prepared to contribute when we’re discussing games.

“I’m not in a rush to make that decision, at some point it’s something we should do. It’s been good to devolve the leadership.”

Hart has come in for some criticism in the wake of the Glasgow stalemate for allowing Griffiths to beat him with near-identical free-kicks in a matter of minutes. 

But Southgate was quick to defend the Manchester City keeper, who spent last season on loan at Torino having been deemed surplus to requirements by Pep Guardiola.

Asked what he said to Hart, Southgate replied: “They were great free-kicks. Beyond that, coaching conversations I have with players stay private.

“If we go down that route then it’s not the right thing to do. I go back to the concession of free-kicks being the starting point. There are many areas we could have done better.”

Heaton will start the encounter with France before Butland takes his place for the second half.