Harry Kane hits back after Gary Lineker and Gary Neville criticism of England

Harry Kane has responded to criticisim after Gary Lineker and Gary Neville provided very outspoken verdicts on England's performance in the tournament so far.

Kane scored in England's second Euro 2024 group match against Denmark, but the team could only manage a 1-1 draw following Morten Hjulmand's equaliser. The performance led to Match of the Day host Lineker labelling the display as "s***", a comment that did not sit well with Kane.

England entered the tournament on the back of a loss to Iceland in their final warm-up game. They bounced back to defeat Serbia 1-0 in their opening match, but the lacklustre performance against Denmark has led to calls for manager Southgate to make changes for the final group match against Slovenia.

Southgate's squad made it to the final of the previous Euros, where they were defeated by Italy in a penalty shootout. This seemed to be on Kane's mind as he addressed Lineker - whose best tournament performance with England was reaching the World Cup semi-final in 1990.

Kane said: "I'd never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially, you know, a player who's worn the shirt and knows what it's like to play for England," said the Three Lions captain. "Maybe ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise... it's very hard not to listen to [what they say] now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.", reports the Mirror.

"So I always feel like [former players and pundits] have a responsibility. I know they've got to be honest and give their opinion, but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player."

"The bottom line is, we haven't won anything as a nation for a long, long time. And, you know, a lot of these ex-players were part of that as well... they do know that it's tough to play in these major tournaments. It's tough to play for England."

Kane continued: "I would never disrespect any ex-player, all I would say is remember what it is like to wear the shirt and that their words are listened to. Some of the lads, I don't know how many, but we do hear it."

"We all want to win a major tournament and I am sure they want us to win a major tournament and being as helpful as they can and building the lads up with confidence would be a much better way of going about it.

"Maybe when I'm 40 or 50 I'll be on one of those shows trying to dig players out - I hope I'm not. It might change." said Kane.

"But it is what it is, but from my point of view with the experience of players who have been there and maybe not played well in certain games and know how tough it is to play for England to maybe take a step back and see where you were and what it was like."

England's harvest of four points from two group matches mirrors Euro 2020, when wins against Croatia and goal-less draw with Scotland saw them through. Furthermore, they conceded just twice in the entirety of that competition until the heart-breaking penalty defeat in the final round.

Gary Lineker isn't the only prior intern to have voiced opinions on England's tournament beginnings - Gary Neville has implied that a couple of modifications could be in store for the Tuesday face-off with Slovenia. In dialogue with ITV, Neville floated the idea of introducing young Manchester United player Kobbie Mainoo into the midfield.

Also, he suggested that Newcastle player Anthony Gordon might see his debut tournament action upfront.

Southgate's deliberations over a suitable midfield companion for Rice, as well as the necessity for pace alongside Kane, was highlighted by Neville: "That's Gordon and that's Mainoo. Declan Rice must have a partner in midfield who can play and get us playing out from the back."

Touching on concerns regarding speed, he added, "I think that pace question is there, we've been talking about it for a few days. I think he could even be disruptive enough to do what he did in previous tournaments and go to a three at the back as well. It's that left wing-back role that's a bit difficult for Gareth."