England manager Roy Hodgson said Harry Kane may miss out on selection for upcoming international friendlies later this month, despite the Tottenham striker's rich vein of form.
Kane has enjoyed a breakout season for Tottenham, with the 21-year-old's 24 goals in all competitions making him the leading English striker this term.
Many expect Kane to be included in the England squad when Hodgson names his team for friendly fixtures against Lithuania (March 27) and Italy (March 30).
But Hodgson is giving no guarantees, with Kane's inclusion depended on space in the squad after Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Saido Berahino and Rickie Lambert were selected for November's friendlies.
Daniel Sturridge is also returning to full fitness.
"Kane is ready; if he wasn't ready, he wouldn't be playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and scoring lots of goals," Hodgson said.
"The factors that always are taken mostly into consideration is has the player got the quality, and the talent we are looking for and is there a space for him because we have other players too.
"Often if someone like Kane is going to come into the squad, then someone is going to drop out and up until now most of the players that we've had, at least in the forward area of our squad, have done quite well for us during the autumn, so you can't include everybody unfortunately.
"We can just about deal with a squad of 23, 24 players, so it's not always a question of are they good enough to be in there. It's more if there is space at this moment in time. That's the most important consideration."
Hodgson added: "He's in my thoughts of course, he deserves to be scoring goals for one of our top teams in the Premier League.
"It would be strange if he wasn't in my thoughts, but it's a player I know anyway because he has done a lot of good work for the U21s and I know all of those players and what pleases me most is that these young players now get a chance to play.
"I am delighted for him and we will see when I select my squad at the end of the month whether he is in it or not." Soccerway reports
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