Gareth Southgate is facing a major striker dilemma after finally admitting Harry Kane has run out of gas.

Kane will be rested amid a raft of changes because the England captain has started a staggering 61 games since the start of last season.

The frightening workload put on Kane’s shoulders appears to be taking its toll and yet Southgate’s lack of options in his squad is downright frightening.

The only other two strikers in the squad, Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck, have started just one Premier League game between them, managing a total of 143 minutes and just one goal.

Even Southgate admits that he is now using England matches as a way of giving his players game time, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago but is now a brutal reality.

(Image: PA)

The England boss does not want to go back to calling on the the likes of Theo Walcott or even look at Glenn Murray and Troy Deeney, while Jamie Vardy has made himself unavailable for England.

Southgate wants to persevere with Rashford and Welbeck rather than risk Kane and also upset Tottenham by starting him yet again.

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“Harry falls into that category in which we have several players where we have to watch how much they play,” said Southgate.

“We talked a bit after the World Cup about the demands of the modern player. Everybody has got to play a part in that but the clubs own the player and they have got to do the right thing for them.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

(Image: PA)

“There aren’t many English strikers playing. There are obviously some older ones who have good goalscoring records at club level but I’m not sure that’s necessarily the route we want to go.

“A lot of these players coming in tomorrow have played zero minutes in the league. But for them and the right thing for us – for this season and beyond – is to give them game time and to give them international matches. That’s the reason for doing it.

“We’re hopeful that a couple of the younger ones will start to get games and develop. I still have a lot of faith in the likes of (Dominic) Solanke in particular, who I think has been outstanding at every age level.

“So I am looking more to the younger ones. But I can’t rule out anybody because if people play well it would be foolish to ignore them.

“In fairness, if I was Ryan Giggs or Michael O’Neill, I’d be saying ‘what the hell is he complaining about’? They have to select their players from different sources. But we’re in a different era in terms of numbers of numbers of players who are in the pool and selectable.

(Image: REUTERS)

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

“There are 70 English players playing who I could pick… We are playing the way we want to play, the way we believe and we ruled a few out of that decision making.

“To try to have a strategy to be as good as we want to be going forward, in the mid to long term, that’s got to be some of the kids who have been successful at youth level for us and that’s a better investment for us in the long term really.”

It is incredible to think of England being used as a finishing or development school to help players get game time because they cannot get it at their clubs.

But that is the state of the nation for Southgate and his young England squad. Rashford and Welbeck need games, Fabian Delph has yet to play for Manchester City this season and Danny Rose has started just one game for Tottenham.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made just two substitute appearances and Southgate is starting a goalkeeper from the Championship as Stoke’s Jack Butland is in goal.

(Image: Reuters)

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

“The clubs would normally be holding their breath and hiding behind their sofas watching our teams go out, but this is one of those occasions where we can do the right thing with the players for our long-term benefit,” said Southgate.

“The guys that have been in the squad will be on the bench and ready to come on because I am not sure some of the lads who have not started the game will be able to go the 90 minutes without a performance dip and some sort of element of risk.

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“As the season goes on, I know a lot of those managers will look to give those players a week at the right time and tomorrow we have got to approach the game differently.

“It is more the players that I want to see and give game time to, that builds the spirit. If players keep coming and not getting a game, that is not a healthy environment for us.”