Kane would lead England off field following racist abuse

England captain Harry Kane would consider leading his players off the field if they were subjected to racial abuse again.

Montenegro have been charged by UEFA following allegations of racist behaviour during Monday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Gareth Southgate’s side.

Southgate said full-back Danny Rose was targeted, teenage winger Callum Hudson-Odoi said he heard “monkey stuff” and Raheem Sterling cupped his ears in front of the home fans after scoring in Podgorica.

Kane, who was also on the scoresheet in a 5-1 victory for the Three Lions, condemned the alleged abuse in the strongest terms.

“It’s terrible, it’s unacceptable,” Kane told Sky Sports. “Our players handled it so well, professional and focused on our job and carried on doing what we do best.

“That’s what they’ve done and now it is up to the people in charge to take over and make sure the right action is taken. It’s not acceptable in football or any part of life. The way the fans acted, the people in charge must take the appropriate action.”

Asked directly if England would walk off, Kane added: “I’m fully supportive of my team-mates. If it happened again and they weren’t happy and wanted to talk about it and they wanted to take a breather, I would fully back them with whatever they wanted to do.

“We’re a team and a unit, we stand behind every one of our players. Hopefully it never happens again but if it did, I would take their lead on that and whatever they wanted, we would support them.”

A real honour and an enormously proud day for me and my family. A massive thanks to my @England teammates and coaching staff.   pic.twitter.com/g70LWpRR1N

— Harry Kane (@HKane) March 28, 2019

Kane returns to domestic duties this weekend with Tottenham, who have earned a single point from their past four Premier League games, taking on title hopefuls Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

“It’s massive for us,” added Kane, who was collecting his MBE from Buckingham Palace. “Obviously we haven’t had the performances that we would have wanted before the international break. 

“A big game for Liverpool as well with the title race they’re in but we’re going for the top four as well so it’s going to be a tough game, Liverpool away is always tough.

“Their fans are obviously very loud and enthusiastic so we’ve got to try and zone that out and focus on ourselves and try to get a result.”

Boss. #SpursNewStadium  #COYS pic.twitter.com/S4CkBfHvo1

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 27, 2019

After Liverpool away, Spurs will finally have the chance to play at their new home with Crystal Palace the visitors to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“That’s exciting. Everyone has been waiting patiently, the fans, the club and the players so from our point of view we’re excited to get there,” Kane said.

“I know the fans are buzzing that game is going to be a full house, the atmosphere is going to be incredible so obviously it’s down to us to make sure we win the game.

“I’m going there now, we’ve got training in an hour, so we have to get used to things there like the changing rooms.”