Roy Hodgson has acclaimed Harry Kane’s improvement at Tottenham Hotspur, describing him as having “come on leap and bounds” as the manager considers whether to promote the 21-year-old to the full England squad for the first time.

Kane has established himself more prominently in Hodgson’s thinking after his impressive run of form for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, including two goals in the 5-3 defeat of Chelsea and a performance that gave John Terry and Gary Cahill more problems than at any other time this season.

England’s next game is not until 27 March when they play a qualifier against Lithuania, and Hodgson will have to balance his thinking by weighing up the fact that Gareth Southgate regards Kane as an important member of his squad for the European Under-21 Championship in June.

“Harry is one of those players – Andros Townsend being another one – who didn’t exactly burst on to the scene in his club side and get straight in,” Hodgson said. “They got loaned out first and sent out to different places to learn their trade, if you like, or at least pick up some important aspects of their trade.

“We have watched [Kane] for a while and I worked with him briefly in the Under-21s when I filled in for one game. Harry has come on in leaps and bounds and I’m not surprised because I know [the former coaches] Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand very well. They have worked with him at Tottenham and they always believed in him as a goalscorer. It’s tremendous to see people like him doing so well and quite strange that in the Under-21s a year or two ago we were bemoaning the fact we didn’t think our forwards were up to the level of the midfielders – and yet suddenly Kane, Saido Berahino and Danny Ings are all doing exceptionally well. It will be a headache for Gareth who he picks to play in the summer.”

Hodgson, who reiterated his long-held view that there should be a mid-season break in the Premier League, also praised Charlie Austin due to the striker’s scoring form for QPR. “Charlie is doing very well,” he said on SiriusXM FC. “He’s another one who has come through the lower leagues and, a bit like Rickie Lambert, I’m sure people have watched Charlie many times and dismissed him because he doesn’t run like the wind. You can be a good footballer sometimes without needing to run like the wind and Harry Redknapp has brought the best out of him for QPR.”