England striker Marcus Rashford has revealed Harry Kane’s prowess in front of goal is driving him on to better things.
Rashford, who has 10 international goals, is likely to line up alongside Kane for the Three Lions’ Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria on Saturday as they aim to further strengthen their grip on Group A.
Captain Kane harbours an impressive scoring rate for his country, but is even more prolific in training.
And Rashford tries to compete with his team-mate in shooting drills to make himself a better player.
“We use each other’s strengths to make each other better and if you watch training, then you’d see how it all works,” he said.
“I could use Harry Kane as an example, he’s one of the best finishers that I’ve played with and whenever we do finishing, in my head, it’s about being as close to him as possible.
“So if he scores six, you want to score six, if he scores seven, you want to score eight.
“So little things like that are the bits that people never see, even though we’re fighting for the same position, or to be in the same team, we really do drive each other on.
“It’s very important that you have that sort of atmosphere within a team.”
Kane looks a good bet to break Wayne Rooney’s all-time record of 53 goals for England as he is on 22 and is only 26 years old.
The Tottenham player has a fixation with scoring goals and being the best he can and that is something Rashford wants to learn from.
“I think the initial start for Harry, at the beginning, he wasn’t looking at Wayne Rooney’s goalscoring record or maybe it was in the very back of his mind,” Rashford added.
“But he wanted to be the best of himself, and once you do that, that’s the time to… you can start to think about things like records and goals and stuff like that.
“But it’s a healthy thing to be around. You know, when someone has the determination that he has, the mindset, it’s 100 per cent positive for the squad and especially for young forwards like myself.”
While there is uncertainty about who takes penalties for Rashford’s club Manchester United, there is no doubt over who takes them for England, given Kane’s deadliness from 12 yards.
Rashford said: “Obviously here it’s a bit more simple because, like you say, Harry’s record is unbelievable and that’s a way for him to get his goals, and the players, the squad and the staff all support that.
“So, it’s a bit more of a simple topic here.”
