Harry Kane believes Jude Bellingham is coming of age at the Euros.
Bellingham celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday by preparing for England’s last-16 clash with Slovakia in the AufSchalke Arena. It's been a rollercoaster tournament for the Real Madrid star, with the winning goal and a man-of-the-match performance in the opening game against Serbia followed by two disappointing displays in successive draws with Denmark and Slovenia.
But England skipper Kane insists the ups and downs are all part of Bellingham’s development - and he reckons there is no better time for their striking relationship to really spark than at the business end of the competition.
Kane said: “From Jude’s point of view he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. In tournament football a lot of things are accelerated really quickly. In the first game he was the best player and man of the match and in the last couple of games none of us have reached the level we really wanted.
“It’s two games. It isn’t the end of the world. I know things are being heightened and there will be a lot of talk, but that’s part and parcel of playing for England in a major tournament. Jude has dealt with that unbelievably well for his age.
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"He’s dealt really well with going to Real Madrid for his age. So there’s no worries about Jude. He’s a great guy, he believes in himself 100 percent, and from both of our points of view we want to go out there tomorrow and start stepping up our levels.”
England boss Gareth Southgate seems certain to persevere with the ploy of using Bellingham as an attacking midfielder in behind Kane - despite the pair connecting with just a single pass in the goalless draw with Slovenia on Tuesday night.
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Harry Kane has backed Jude Bellingham amid the midfielder's difficult Euros (Getty Images)The Three Lions skipper believes it’s just a matter of time before they get the chemistry right. Kane added: “I talk to all of the players - and with Jude we are always talking about how we can improve. We watched clips of the Denmark game to see how we can play better.
"We would have liked to have played better and had more of a connection. But I still feel like the movements are there. We’re moving really well and I thought it was a lot better than the first two games.
"The relationship is still fairly new. Even though we have played a bit together there’s still things we can both do better. We’re hoping that as the tournament goes on we grow more and more.”
England’s squad gave a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to both Bellingham and Crystal Palace winger Eberechi Eze, who turned 26 on Saturday. Kane insists performances are improving - but called on his team-mates to be as efficient in front of goal as they have been defensively.
He said: “I feel we’ve been ruthless on the defensive side, in terms of blocks and blocking crosses and winning balls - and now it’s down to me, the attacking players and maybe the midfielders to maybe be a bit more ruthless in the final third of the pitch.
“I thought we did that well against Slovenia. We got into better areas and just lacked that killer instinct in the box, or with the cross or the pass. This game will be a little different but ultimately it is about just having that positional discipline, getting into the areas where we can hurt them - and then really being ruthless.”
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