Southgate to run rule over Abraham as he eyes Kane's understudy

Gareth Southgate is ready to give Tammy Abraham the opportunity to cement his place as Harry Kane's understudy for the World Cup during the upcoming Nations League fixtures.

England boss Southgate is planning on rotating his squad through the forthcoming four games versus Hungary, Germany and Italy as he finalises his plans for Qatar, whilst he wants to manage his players fitness following a long domestic season.

The Three Lions head coach knows the vast majority of his squad for the tournament, which starts in November, but there are a few slots still up for grabs and Southgate wants to use the Nations League games to inform his decisions.

One of the positions still undecided is that of Kane's No 2, and there is an expectation that Abraham will have the opportunity to impress Southgate over the next fortnight.

The Roma striker has had an excellent season in Italy, scoring 27 goals and supplying four assists for the Serie A outfit as they finished sixth and won the inaugural Europa Conference League, and is now emerging as the first runner to be the alternative to Kane this winter.

The unselected Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains an option for Southgate; while there remains hope Marcus Rashford can rediscover his form under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United next season.

Ollie Watkins has been in the squad previously and could still come into contention but the lack of genuine centre-forward options is an issue Southgate is privately acknowledging.

Kane is known to want to play every minute of every game, particularly with the all-time England goalscoring record within touching distance for the captain, but Southgate wants to have a proper look at Abraham with the World Cup just six months away.

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