Harry Kane rubbishes 'tiredness' talk, raring to go for Iceland

The 22-year-old arrived in France having scooped the Premier League golden boot award with Tottenham last season, but failed to find the net in three outings as England finished second in Group B behind Wales.

He played in all 38 of Spurs’ league matches as they fell short in the title race to Leicester City, while he was also part of a Europa League campaign that stretched to the last 16.

"I'm not tired, I've had it before last year when it was the Under-21s to the Euros, people said the same thing," he said.

Roy Hodgson’s side face Iceland in the last 16 in Nice on Monday evening hoping to avoid the ignominy of bowing out to tournament debutants.

"We've not scored as many goals as we should have. We've had a lot of chances that we probably should have done better with. It's part of the game, not every game we're not going to find the back of the net three or four times," Kane added.

"We've been patient, I think we have been the better team against every team we've played and now we are in knockout stages, it is about putting them goals in, scoring as many as we can and keeping them clean sheets as well.

"We have done what needed to do, we have got through the group stage and now we can look forward to the game ahead. We want to beat Iceland and progress to the quarter-finals and see who we get from there. We fancy ourselves against anyone and we're confident in our ability."

It’s one of the most peculiar questions surrounding England currently: why has Kane struggled in France?

The fatigue argument seemed pertinent after Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy came off the bench to fire England to victory against Wales, but given that same duo struggled in the subsequent 0-0 encounter against Slovakia, it appears the issue may run deeper.

The paltry link-up between Kane and Dele Alli is a contributing factor. With Hodgson favouring a 4-3-3, and trusted orchestrator Wayne Rooney happily spraying balls out to the flanks rather than trusting his young midfield companion, the pair haven’t often been close enough to tease open defenders in the manner they have for Spurs. It's a problem that needs speedily addressing.