Harry Kane believes he can break Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring record.
Tottenham striker has not scored for his country in his last seven appearances but still managed to collect the Golden Boot as England made it to the World Cup semi-finals in the summer.
Rooney bid farewell to international football in Thursday’s 3-0 friendly win against the United States, ending his record-breaking England career with 53 goals from his 120 caps.
Kane, 25, has amassed 19 goals so far and will be looking to get back on the scoresheet in England’s winner-takes-all Nations League clash with Croatia on Sunday.
He has already been backed by Rooney to one day eclipse his own achievements and now Kane has admitted it is something he is targeting in the long-term.
“It is definitely possible,” Kane said when asked about breaking Rooney’s feat.
“It is still a fair bit away. I don’t like to set my targets that far ahead in the future because a lot can happen.
“We will see over the years how many goals I have got. Hopefully I will still be fit and healthy and getting selected by the manager.
“It is achievable but not something I’m thinking about too much right now.”
Sunday’s meeting with Croatia will give England the chance to end the year on a high and also banish the ghosts of their World Cup semi-final exit at the hands of the same opponents.
A win will take Gareth Southgate’s side into the final stages of the Nations League, although defeat would result in relegation to League B.
Kane missed a glorious chance to put England 2-0 ahead in the last-four clash in Moscow, being denied by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and hitting a post from the rebound before Croatia went on to reach the final.
He admits he still plays the opportunity over in his mind but is now determined to lead England to another semi-final appearance, this time in the inaugural Nations League.
Asked if he still thinks about the miss, he Kane replied: “Of course.
“I have always said as a striker, whenever you miss a chance you have to forget about it as quickly as possible.
“It hurts, any semi-final or big game you lose you always think about what you could have done better – and there are few bigger games than a semi-final.
“I don’t think about it as much anymore, I am just trying to focus on each game as they come along.
“We know Croatia are a great side, we played them out there. It was a strange experience but we played well so for us it is about winning the game tomorrow and going to another semi-final.
“I don’t think both teams are going to go out in the first 10 minutes and try and win the game.
“We would like to score early and get ahead but if that isn’t the case we will be patient and play the way we have been learning over the last few years.
“It is about how we cope with that, how we manage the balance.”