London (AFP) – England manager Gareth Southgate has urged referees to give Harry Kane more protection after claiming the Tottenham striker gets “kicked from pillar to post”.
Kane was accused of diving to win a penalty from Brighton’s Adam Lallana that he converted in Tottenham’s 2-1 win on Sunday.
But Southgate believes a bigger concern is the way opponents often target Kane with a series of rough tackles that do not get clamped down on by international referees.
Kane was fouled six times during his last England match against Denmark in October and will link up with the Three Lions for their forthcoming internationals next week.
“All I’ve seen in our matches with Harry is Harry get kicked from pillar to post and not really protected on the field, so I can only speak about the games with us through the World Cup and beyond the World Cup,” Southgate said on Thursday.
“Every time we play he seems to be a target for opposition defenders and opposition players seem to get away with a hell of a lot against him.
“So, I would welcome a bit more protection for Harry in terms of how that looks like during the games, frankly.”
