Thursday 2 April 2015 07:08, UK
Harry Kane wants to "finish the job" and go to the European U21 Championship this summer, according to Roy Hodgson.
The Tottenham striker's dream season continued in Turin this week as he made his first senior England start on the back of a goalscoring debut against Lithuania last Friday.
But Kane has been a regular for Gareth Southgate's juniors on the road to the Czech Republic finals, and Hodgson has made it clear Kane's involvement at first-team level does not rule him out of selection.
He said: "Harry wants to go with the U21s. He wants to finish the job that he has done. He has been a major part of their qualifying campaign for the last 18 months.
"He's had to work his way into the team and in my conversations with him it has been pretty obvious to me he would like to play in this tournament.
"Harry can play an important part and maybe help them go far in the tournament. That certainly won't hurt his chances in the first team and I am happy to back him.
"If Gareth wants to pick Kane, that is fine by me. He is going to be important for Gareth."
Southgate may now have to negotiate with Tottenham, who are due to travel to Australia for a high-profile friendly against Sydney FC at the end of May.
The U21 tournament runs from June 17-30, and Hodgson will be aiming to stay out of Southgate's way while England remain part of it.
"This is Gareth Southgate's tournament. He doesn't want me hanging around the hotel day-in, day-out," he said.
