LONDON -- The added responsibility of captaining England against Slovenia will not distract Harry Kane from trying to continue his remarkable goal-scoring form, but manager Gareth Southgate is still weighing up a number of candidates for the long-term position.
Kane captains England for the third time on Thursday, knowing victory will secure their spot at next year's World Cup. His form, which has seen him score seven in the last three for Tottenham Hotspur, has been remarkable but ex-England coach Roy Hodgson said earlier in the week that captaincy could become a distraction for Kane if he is handed the honour full-time.
But the man himself gave such concerns little consideration after being confirmed as England's matchday skipper for Slovenia.
"I don't think having an armband on makes any difference to how you play or if you score goals," Kane said. "We've got plenty of leaders in the team, whoever wears the armband there are plenty of us who will speak up and try and help each other on the pitch.
"When things get tough we'll be there for one another. It's just another game and I'll try and help the team, score my goals and qualify for the World Cup."
Kane seemed at ease on Wednesday as he sat alongside Southgate at Tottenham Hotspur's training ground as England finalised preparations for Slovenia. His remarkable run of form -- he has 36 goals in 31 appearances in 2017 for Spurs - has seen him dominate headlines but there is a maturity about the way he speaks.
Aged just 24, Kane is already established as one of the leaders in the group and as Southgate rotates the captaincy, he has taken the armband along with Gary Cahill, Joe Hart and Jordan Henderson.
Kane spoke of how he dreamt of captaining England as a youngster, but there are no guarantees that he will be rubberstamped as the man to lead the country into next year's World Cup, if they qualify.
Southgate is continuing to weigh up the various candidates for the long-term position and says on-field conduct and form will only go so far to convincing him of their leadership credentials.
"It's not just matchday, it's everything in the camp -- thinking about how you integrate the rest of the squad, thinking about how you involve other people, thinking about the moments to step forward, leading by example, leading by having a quiet word with people," Southgate said of what he wants to see from his captain. "There are lots of things that go into making a good captain.
"That won't happen overnight -- you're talking about leadership experience that comes over a longer period of time. We have certain people who can step into that fold now."
The captaincy cards are being kept close to Southgate's chest, to the extent he would not confirm whether Kane will captain England against Lithuania on Sunday, but he did describe the Tottenham striker's leadership qualities as "invaluable to the team" and added "he's improving and maturing all the time."
While Kane will lead out England, Tottenham teammate Dele Alli will sit out the game as he serves his one-match suspension for his gesture at Kyle Walker. Southgate has discussed the incident with Alli -- "he won't do it again, that's for sure" -- while Kane says his Spurs and England colleague will learn from the incident.
"The older he gets, the wiser he gets, this stuff won't happen as often," Kane said of Alli. "Like the gaffer said: he's got that character, he's a fiery person, he wants to win, he wants to be aggressive on the pitch with and without the ball. But he'll learn, he's still only 21. Sometimes it's hard to remember that, it feels like he's been around for a while now. He needs to keep his head down and do his best for the team."
Alli should return for their final Group F match against Lithuania, but with England just one win away from booking their spot at the 2018 World Cup, Southgate wants his team to challenge the impressive Slovenia defence on Thursday and put on a show to impress their watching supporters.
"Slovenia have to win which makes them a dangerous opponent," Southgate said. "Up to this point they haven't conceded many goals at all, so that's a great challenge for us -- can we change that stat? It'd be nice to put on a performance that shows we mean business and we're improving as a team."