England coach Gareth Southgate said he is happy with the attacking options he has at his disposal and does not feel his side have fewer possibilities up front compared to the squad for last year’s European Championship.
England have only managed to find the back of the net once in their last three matches as a late penalty by Harry Kane spared them a second successive Nations League defeat away to Germany last week, following their loss in Hungary.
“I think there is this perception of what we had and have (in the attack), and there’s the reality of what Harry and Raheem (Sterling) have delivered compared to everybody else,” Southgate told a news conference on Monday.
“I’m really happy with the options we’ve got. We’ve been able to refresh people with someone like Jack (Grealish) to come in the game in Germany and Jarrod (Bowen) to have the impact they did.
“We’ve obviously not been able to have Phil (Foden) this time, up to now. So there are still some players that can really make a difference in games.”
England’s trouble finding goal continued on Saturday as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by a youthful Italy side which added to the winless start to their Nations League campaign.
England are now bottom of Group A3 on two points while Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, are top with five points.
“We’ve had goals in different areas over the last few years — set plays and different players getting goals, midfielders,” Kane added.
“I’m sure every lad who puts on an England shirt wants to score and affect the game and get assists. The most important thing is mentality of having the hunger to get the goals and that’s what I talk to my team mates about.
“We’ve done that well going into major tournaments but we’re still learning and improving. The boys are eager to score goals and get involved,” the England captain added.
The Tottenham Hotspur striker also welcomed to the Premier League the new Manchester City and Liverpool signings, forwards Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez, saying their arrival will positively impact his own scoring form.
“The battle for the Golden Boot is always tough. The Premier League has produced some top strikers for a number of years now,” Kane said.
“I think it helps me as a player to have group competition, it drives me to improve and get better so for sure I look forward to the challenge.”
