Gareth Southgate says Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford can lead England's line in the absence of Tottenham ace Harry Kane.

If Kane's injury recovery doesn't go smoothly, Rashford could be forced to lead the Three Lions' attack at the World Cup.

“Marcus is a player we believe in," Southgate said.

“I worked with him briefly in the Under-21s and we saw things that we've seen in the other Under-21s who have moved up to the senior team and done extremely well.

“Also, for me, the big thing about him — and several of the others that we're talking about — is his mentality.

“He's a player who believes in himself on the big stage, he's ­committed to his job and he ­respects his sport in the way he trains and in his professionalism. He always wants to get better in some area of his game, or physically.

“So he's got a top mentality — which is what we saw in Harry Kane at that same age as well.

“Marcus is mentally tough. The kids that are brought up at Manchester United are brought up to have to play in front of 70,000 ­people, so the big games don't tend to faze them."