England “do not risk players” and captain Harry Kane “has not had an injury”, says manager Gareth Southgate.

Tottenham striker Kane appeared as a 66th-minute substitute in Sunday’s Nations League win over Belgium.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho asked international managers to protect his players after a hefty fixture schedule and is reportedly opposed to Kane starting against Denmark on Wednesday.

Southgate said he wants players “fit” and “as sharp as possible”.

Tottenham were the first English side to return to action this season because of their involvement in the Europa League qualifiers and before Sunday, Kane had featured in 10 games in the past 29 days for club and country.

Kane, 27, was sent for a scan but Southgate said the player has been “fully fit since the end of last week”.

He added:

“I don’t really understand the story. He would have started the last game but did not have enough training time and was fine during the game, so is fit and available.

“I did not understand the stories being run and where that is coming from because they are not the conversations we have been having with Spurs medically. It is something that is not really affecting us in camp.

“He has been fully fit since the end of last week, just before the last game. He has not had an injury, he was feeling muscle soreness which can happen to athletes but there was no injury at any point.”

By Peace