Declan Rice and his England team-mates will never doubt Harry Kane, despite the Three Lions captain s failure to score in the World Cup group stage.
England scored nine goals en route to finishing top of Group B but Kane is yet to get off the mark in Qatar.
Kane, who won the Golden Boot in Russia four years ago and is just two behind Wayne Rooney s record haul of 53 Three Lions strikes, has created three of England s goals, becoming the first English player to provide three assists at a World Cup since David Beckham in 2002.
But Rice has full faith Kane will come up with the goods in the knockout stage.
I don t think we should ever doubt Harry, the midfielder said at a press conference on Thursday. His goalscoring record speaks for itself, what he s done for England.
If you re looking, it s two assists now, against Iran for [Raheem] Sterling and the other night for Phil [Foden, against Wales].
He s adapted his role now, where he likes to drop in a lot more, and link the play. I think that s where it s good, where we have fast runners.
We re all rooting for him to score. He s our captain, that s what we need. I m sure he will. He ll score in the knockout stages now.
Sights set on Senegal!
— England (@England)
Rice started his third game in a row at the tournament against Wales on Tuesday, but saw close friend Mason Mount dropped as part of a reshuffle.
The Chelsea playmaker has often come under fire on social media as a perceived favourite for Gareth Southgate, but Rice said Mount s achievements speak for themselves.
I don t need to talk too much about Mase, Rice said. You know he is one of the best players I ve played with. I think that s why Gareth is so keen on him.
He s just a team player. His numbers at Chelsea are incredible. He s won the Champions League, won the Super Cup, and for the rest of his career, he can go on and be whatever he wants to be.
Let [him] go and do his thing. When he s doing that, it makes me happy seeing my good friend go and perform at the best level.
