England manager Roy Hodgson has told Harry Kane to ignore the doubters and carry on bringing him to the edge of his seat.
Last year Kane took English football by storm, scoring 31 goals for Tottenham despite starting the season as the club's third-choice striker, but this campaign it has not been plain sailing for the 22 year old.
Kane took nine matches before breaking his duck for Tottenham in the 4-1 win over Manchester City and Hodgson, normally such a calm figure when watching on from the stands, took exception on this occasion, clapping the forward after quickly rising to his feet.
Hodgson's faith in Kane remains strong but he acknowledges the striker could be affected by criticism if he goes through another dry patch.
"I have seen him play several times this year and I don't think he is playing badly at all," Hodgson said of Kane, who scored for England against San Marino and Switzerland last month.
"I was really pleased to see him score a goal, which I saw was picked up by the TV cameras. It surprised me because I normally watch games stony-faced, but I was so pleased for the lad that even I could not resist that one.
"The bottom line is that you don't become a good or bad player based on a period of three or four weeks.
"What worries me is that the players hear from people like me and (Spurs manager Mauricio) Pochettino: 'Don't worry, the goals will come. You are a good player. Keep doing what you are doing', but he is reading 'You are no good'.
"That is the problem and that is where you talk about mentality. In my ideal world a player's mentality will be strong and he will block out the outside comments and influences and listen more to what he is being told by the people within football who believe in him, and he will continue to believe in himself."
Provided he comes through Tottenham's game at Swansea unscathed, Kane will feature in the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania.
Hodgson had considered handing another striker, Callum Wilson, a call-up before he suffered a serious knee injury in the defeat to Stoke last weekend.
"He's been bloody unlucky," Hodgson said.
"He was on the radar. He has already played for the Under-21s so we know about him but he obviously came under consideration after his excellent start this season.
"I am very disappointed by the injury. I can't say he would have necessarily been in the squad because I am happy with the players we have got, but we think Callum has a lot of ability and lots of qualities and he is one that we certainly would have continued to follow quite closely. But now I have to wait a few months because of his tragic injury."
Ashley Young has also been overlooked again. The Manchester United winger has been in good form for the last 18 months but has not played for Hodgson since September 2013.
"We haven't got anything against Ashley Young," Hodgson said.
"But if I am going to pick Ashley Young it will be because there is a distinct place in the team where I can see him coming in and playing every game between now and France (2016). I will not bring him in to be a luxury reserve."
Source: PA
