England manager Gareth Southgate has warned Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho he needs to keep playing Harry Kane.

Mourinho has called publicly for Southgate to manage his captain's playing time during the upcoming international break, when the Three Lions play three times in seven days.

However, speaking after announcing an enlarged 30-man squad for the fixtures against Wales, Belgium and Denmark, Southgate criticised Mourinho's lack of direct communication, and warned he would expect Kane to be managed in similar fashion in the build-up to next summer's European Championships.

“Jose was great, wasn't he?" Southgate said. “He was on good form. I heard him. He won't phone but he'll stand at the top of Tottenham's stadium and tell us. So that was good.

“We're certainly not looking to start players in three games, but I can't guarantee that no player will play no minute of all three games. You might end up having to put somebody on for five minutes.

“Our aim is to manage the squad, we've got to be conscious of the players. The season as a whole is a huge challenge for clubs and national teams so we've all got to help each other on that, it doesn't help anybody if we're not joined up on our thinking.

“All Jose needs to do is make sure that in April and May he looks after Harry Kane for us, because there'll be 55 million people relying on that so that obviously works both ways."

Southgate went on to praise Mourinho for his usual approach to relations between club and country.

“With Jose, I've had a pretty good relationship for a while. He allowed us to have Steve when I was taking the U21s and he was very helpful in facilitating that.

“I've got to say Jose has never ever put me under pressure not to pick a player. That is 100 per cent the case. He has always accepted, he's worked at big clubs throughout his life, he's always accepted that international football is part of that situation, where his players are going to go.

“He would expect us to look after those players - as we should do. With every player that we have. And the physical loading in training, and the way we manage the matches is key. But he's never ever, never once asked me not to select a player. He's been very respectful in that way."