Wayne Rooney believes Tottenham Hotspur superstar Harry Kane must be rested for Wales clash

Writing in his Sunday Times column as quoted by Chronicle Live, England legend Wayne Rooney believes Gareth Southgate must rest Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane against Wales and play Callum Wilson instead.

Kane’s inclusion in the final group match against Wales is under massive discussion over the past couple of days after it emerged that the Spurs superstar was playing through the pain from a foot injury.

The 29-year-old striker, who has been in sensational form for Spurs this season is yet to get off the mark after two games in the World Cup. Although he had a good performance against Iran, Kane struggled against the USA.

This has led to calls asking for the England captain to be rested in the third group game against Wales to give him some rest and also to not risk him as the Spurs man is more important to England for the knockout stages.

England have not yet secured their progress to the next round in the World Cup but against Wales, they are expected to do it without much trouble even in the absence of the Tottenham man.

It is a tough call to make as Gareth Southgate as he will always want to put his best players out on the field in all the World Cup matches but it is a decision he has to make to make sure he doesn’t risk his captain.

Here is what Wayne Rooney had to say about the Harry Kane situation and what he thinks must be done.

“The other big change I would make for the Wales match would be to rest Harry Kane. Against the USA, he looked like he may have been suffering the effects of a heavy knock he took in the Iran game. It was from a tackle in the second half and in that match, I felt that Gareth should have considered taking him off at half-time”

Perhaps Rooney wants to hold onto his goal-scoring record for England a bit longer before Kane overtakes it. He is on 51 goals and needs three to overtake the Manchester United icon’s tally for the Three Lions.

Jokes aside, Rooney is being pragmatic here. England should get the job done against the Welsh without Kane, given the firepower they have with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, and Phil Foden.

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Fortunately for Kane, he has time on his side when it comes to the goal-scoring record. Although he would like to do it in the World Cup, it’s not the end of the world for the Spurs man and ultimately, sense must prevail regarding the decision to play or not play him against Wales.