Should England be worried about Harry Kane after another sluggish showing?

Harry Kane.

It's fair to wonder whether Harry Kane's back injury is still bothering him after another underwhelming performance from the England forward on Thursday.

Against Denmark at UEFA Euro 2024, Kane scored the match's first goal in the 18th minute, but Ollie Watkins replaced him in the 69th minute after he failed to do much else. Following the 1-1 draw, BBC Sport analyst Gary Lineker slammed the England captain's effort.

"In all honesty, Harry Kane needs to do a lot better," Lineker said. "His movement was minimal. He didn't look to go behind, and he doesn't often, but even when he comes short, he's drifting short very lethargically, he's plodding short, and that's not going to help."

England manager Gareth Southgate downplayed concerns about Kane's back, which sidelined him for the final two games of the German Bundesliga season. However, he seemed to admit the 30-year-old forward looked a little lethargic.

"We needed energy," Southgate said, via The Athletic's Jack Pitt-Brooke and Nnamdi Onyeagwara. "We've had two games in a short turnaround, we needed fresh legs, we needed energy to press at that stage of the game. I think Harry only had the one 90 minutes in over a month, that was the decision that we took."

Whether his back is affecting him or not, Kane — England's all-time leading goal scorer (64 in 92 games) — hasn't looked like himself through the first two games of the tournament. He has only netted one goal on three shots and logged no assists.

England still leads Group C (four points) and could clinch a spot in the knockout stage, but the Three Lions need more from Kane to win their first UEFA European Championship.

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