Danny Rose has warned Colombia they should be running scared of Harry Kane and claimed the striker is yet to hit top form, despite leading the race for the Golden Boot.

England face Colombia here tonight with a place in the World Cup quarter-finals at stake as Gareth Southgate’s side aim to win their first tournament knockout match since beating Ecuador in Stuttgart in 2006.

Kane will lead the attack, with ­manager Southgate set to revert to the line-up which beat Tunisia in England’s opening group match. It means Raheem Sterling is likely to start, with Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard recalled in midfield.

Southgate made eight changes for England’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium last Thursday, including a late call to leave out Kane, who had expressed his desire to play as he chases the top-scorer prize.

The Tottenham striker has five goals from two matches — a pair of close-range finishes against Tunisia before two penalties and a hat-trick goal against Panama which he knew little about as Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shot deflected in off his heel — and Rose believes his club-mate is ready to take his game to another level this evening.

“The gaffer said in his press conference the other day that Harry is the best No9 in this tournament — and that’s a fact,” he told Standard Sport.

“It’s not up for debate with me. And do you know what’s actually quite scary? I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this, but I don’t think he has played to the best of his abilities yet.

“He’s done his job in scoring the goals, but this is not the Harry I’ve seen at Tottenham and I think every other team should be quite worried about that to be honest because it is just a matter of time.”

Southgate revealed he chose to make Kane captain for these finals in part due to the example he sets and Rose provided some fascinating insight into the 24-year-old’s attitude behind the scenes.

“At Tottenham, he is the first person in,” he said. “We don’t have to report until 9am, but he gets in about 8.30am. He is in the gym before training, he’s the first one to lead us out on to the training pitch at Tottenham and here with England as well. He trains the exact same way every single day.

In Pictures | England 2018 World Cup Training | 02.07.18 16 show all In Pictures | England 2018 World Cup Training | 02.07.18 1/16 PA 2/16 Getty Images 3/16 PA 4/16 PA 5/16 AFP/Getty Images 6/16 AFP/Getty Images 7/16 PA 8/16 PA 9/16 PA 10/16 PA 11/16 PA 12/16 PA 13/16 PA 14/16 Jeremy Selwyn 15/16 Jeremy Selwyn 16/16 Jeremy Selwyn

“There is a side to Harry that people have not seen — when he loses in training, he gets so angry. He demands the best from people on his team in training. Then, after that, he is doing extra work: finishing, penalties, free-kicks. Then he’s always in the ice bath. He does boxing after training. He’s got a chef to help him eat properly. He is the first one into team meetings. If there are any problems, we go to Harry at Tottenham and here. We ask, ‘Can we try and get this or that?’ and he doesn’t even debate it, he’s all for the lads.

“Even on the pitch, unless he’s shooting, he is very unselfish. He’ll do the work for you if you are tired. If he sees you are having a bad moment, he’ll help you out, give you encouragement.

“Another thing that people might not notice is whenever we concede at ­Tottenham, I always look at Harry for his reaction and he is always encouraging, telling everyone to keep their heads up.

“He is just a really nice person and the best professional I have come across. It is mad that someone came through the academy to be as good and humble as he is. I feel very lucky to play with him.”