The Tottenham striker’s 27th minute penalty was enough to see off Lithuania 1-0 and kept up his run of scoring after he previously netted as captain against Scotland, France and Slovenia.
“Importantly, he’s scoring goals for us and he’s leading from the front,” said Southgate. “It’s a fantastic record. His finishing quality is top, as good as anyone I’ve played with or worked with. I’m never in doubt that, if he has a good opportunity, it’ll be on target and there’s a fair chance he scores. We’re fortunate to have him.”
On a World Cup night where Scotland suffered the agony of missing out on the finals after drawing in Slovenia, Southgate added of Kane: “We need that leadership through the team. He’s certainly impressed me with everything he’s done.
“I couldn’t be happier with the way he’s led, both in terms of by example on the pitch with his performances, but also with the group. I know everyone wants me to get a shift on, but, again, I want to give myself time.
“What else would there be to write about for the next couple of months if I didn’t!” However, the three points to cement England’s place at the top of Group F could not disguise another below-par performance from the Three Lions, which again showed the size of the improvement needed if Southgate’s side are to make any sort of impact in Russia.
“We haven’t scored the number of goals we would have liked to but we gave three full debuts and wanted to try something,” he said. “A bit more quality in the final third is what was missing.
“They had a packed defence, we were a fraction off. It’s a completely different challenge against Brazil and Germany next month.”
Harry Winks’ performance, making a surprise England debut on the back of just four Premier League starts, was one of the few positives of the evening and the Tottenham midfielder was unlucky not to score in the second half.
“It’s been a dream week for me,” said Winks. “I was quite surprised when I got the call to step in, but obviously I’m happy to step in. To be called up into the seniors was fantastic – I nearly scored!
“The keeper made a great save off my left foot, if that had gone in it would have been brilliant.”
