Practice makes perfect in ton-up Kane's 'happy place'

England’s captain reflects with Miguel Delaney on the work that has gone into winning an unrealistic’ century of caps

- Miguel Delaney

There are moments when Harry Kane is watching younger players conduct a modern finishing session and starts to get irritated.

"The ball comes to you, you take a touch and finish... it's not really realistic," he says. "I try and do realistic training where it's game scenarios, bobbly ball, half a second to swivel and hit, crosses that have been whipped in at fast tempo. It helps separate the good players and the top players.”

Such realistic sessions have also helped lead to what Kane himself calls “unrealistic” targets.

One of those was 100 caps for England, which the 31-year-old will celebrate when he starts this evening’s Nations League match against Finland at Wembley. That’s the reason he is sitting down with media at England’s base this week, the Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre, but he’s reflecting on a lot more than the route here. That’s because the early doubts about him were much stronger than whether he would get even a handful of caps, let alone become England’s 10th centurion.

A theme of his career has been proving people wrong, mostly through the precision of finishing he has worked so hard on. Kane talks about being released by Arsenal, never being considered “the next big thing”, some bad loans, initially being dismissed as a one-season wonder and now the idea he is physically waning.

Kane’s stance on the last point is illustrated by the fact he is now targeting 100 England goals.

“It’s possible, it’s there,” he says. “What is it, 34 [more] goals? I feel like I am in a good place and these are good targets to try and reach. Some people may see them as unrealistic but I would rather go for something unrealistic and not quite make it.”