Football
Ben Pearce, Tottenham correspondent 5y

Harry Kane: Tottenham teammate Harry Winks deserves England recall

England captain Harry Kane has welcomed the return of his Tottenham teammate Harry Winks to the national squad.

Winks was named man of the match on his England debut last October, in a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania which remains his only senior international appearance due to an ankle injury sustained last November, which eventually required surgery in the summer. 

The 22-year-old is now back in the fold as the Three Lions prepare to visit Croatia and Spain in the UEFA Nations League, and Kane said it is good to see him returning to fitness.

"He's a great player," he said. "He loves to get on the ball, twist and turn. He keeps the ball and he's passing it forward most of the time, which is great.

"He had a tough spell, struggling with injury and getting his fitness back, so it's great to see him back in there now. It's a deserved call-up. Hopefully he'll just keep his head down and keep doing what he's doing."

Gareth Southgate has also given three youngsters their first senior call-ups, selecting Leicester City's 21-year-old James Maddison, Derby County's 19-year-old Mason Mount -- who is on loan from Chelsea -- and Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho, 18.

"I trained with Mason a bit before the World Cup," Kane said. "He came and trained with us a little bit. That's what we want in the side. We want fresh, hungry players and competition for places, so it will be interesting to see how they get on. I'm sure they'll do great.

"They've been playing week in, week out, which is good and what they need. We have to just go and enjoy it.

"With Croatia, we know what happened in the summer [in the World Cup semifinal] so it will be nice to try and get our own back on them. Then obviously we played Spain recently [losing 2-1]. They're two tough games."

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