Lithuania boss Edgaras Jankauskas reveals unusual plan to contain England striker Harry Kane
Written by News on 07/10/2017
Lithuania manager Edgaras Jankauskas has revealed a cunning plan to halt England’s Harry Kane in Sunday’s World Cup Qualifier.
Gareth Southgate’s men wrapped up World Cup qualification by narrowly beating Slovenia on Thursday evening and are looking to end Group F with a bang against the side 120th in the world rankings.
It may be a dead rubber but Kane is champing at the bit to be involved, having netted 14 goals in his last nine appearances for club and country.
Jankauskas knows a thing or two about leading the line and won the Champions League as part of Jose Mourinho’s Porto, making the Lithuania boss all the more concerned about the in-form Tottenham striker.
"The first plan would be to not let him into the stadium!" he said of Kane.
"We know he is in terrific form and to stop him, well, we have to pay a lot of attention and to use everything we can against such a machine, such a goalscoring machine."
Lithuania are second bottom of Group F and ended a six-match losing streak by drawing 1-1 in Malta on Thursday.
England come into this match on the back of widespread criticism for their display in the late 1-0 win against Slovenia, despite it being enough to secure World Cup qualification
"Well, teams like England are always criticised a bit, even if they win and we saw the match and their ability and the goal they scored at the end showed what fitness levels they have," Jankauskas added.
"In general criticism is always normal when you have so much media interest and football is so popular.
"I think it shows the level the football is at, even when they are criticised after winning and qualifying for the World Cup."
(c) Sky News 2017: Lithuania boss Edgaras Jankauskas reveals unusual plan to contain England striker Harry Kane
