England must be careful to retain culture - Kane

Harry Kane has scored a record 68 goals in 102 appearances for England

Harry Kane says England must be careful not to lose the strong team culture they have built following his criticism of players pulling out of the squad.

Nine of the players called up by interim head coach Lee Carsley withdrew from the squad on Monday before Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

In an interview with ITV leading up to England's 3-0 win in Greece, captain Kane said he was unhappy about the amount of withdrawals, adding: "England comes before club."

Before Sunday's encounter with the Republic of Ireland, the striker, 31, spoke to the media.

He said: "I probably didn't expect it to get as much coverage as it did, but it was my opinion.

"The November camp has always been a difficult camp. Even if you look at other years, other players have pulled out. It's a tough stage of the season."

Former England manager Gareth Southgate transformed the culture within the national team and led the Three Lions to consecutive European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final in 2018 during his tenure.

Kane said such a culture "takes a long time to build and maybe not so long to lose if you're not careful".

He added the autumn camps after a major tournament "get forgotten about a little bit", but are "really important".

England will be promoted to League A if they beat the Republic of Ireland in Sunday's Nations League match at Wembley.

"If we win, it sets us up really well for the year ahead going into the [2026] World Cup," said Bayern Munich forward Kane.

"These are the camps where you build that culture and togetherness that lead you into the World Cup. It is just a reminder that playing for England is really, really special.

"For me personally it is one of the greatest things I do as a professional footballer."

Thomas Tuchel takes over as England boss on 1 January and Kane said it was up to the experienced players to pass on the message about team culture to the younger ones in the national set-up.

"I'm sure Thomas will come in and have ideas and ways he wants to build his culture," added Kane.

"Ultimately we have had some really good tournaments and it's about sharing those experiences with the players who haven't had as much exposure to that."

Kane was dropped in favour of Ollie Watkins for the win over Greece before replacing the Aston Villa striker on 66 minutes.

The former Tottenham forward, who is set to start against the Republic of Ireland, said he was "a little bit" shocked at being dropped by Carsley.

"I've made it clear that I want to start every game," said Kane. "I want to try to help the team. I understood his decision. But it was new for me."

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Kane added: "Ultimately, I'm here because I'm one of the top goalscorers in the world at the moment.

"Sometimes I feel like there's a perception that maybe I'm just here because I'm the captain, but it's not the case. I'm in the best form I've been in in my career."

The match against the Republic of Ireland will be Carsley's last in his interim role.

The 50-year-old has given six debuts during his five matches in charge and has leaned heavily on players he knows from his time as manager of the under-21s side.

Curtis Jones, Lewis Hall and Morgan Rogers all made their debut as an inexperienced England side convincingly beat Greece.

"They have the mentality to compete and now the challenge for them is to stay in the squad," said Carsley.

"There's that many quality players around and the competition is so extreme that they have got to make sure they stay in the race."

Carsley also added he will catch up with Tuchel after the current camp to "talk through the players" and share his thoughts and experience.