• Captain ready to resume his quest for the golden boot • Danny Rose and Gary Cahill expected to be called up

Harry Kane expects to start England’s final Group G fixture against Belgium as he continues his pursuit of the World Cup’s golden boot.

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The national captain already has five goals to his name having played only 154 minutes to date at the tournament, edging him one clear of Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku in the goalscoring charts. Gareth Southgate is considering his team selection for the game in Kaliningrad on Thursday, when the section will be claimed, and is expected to make a handful of changes to freshen up his side’s approach.

Yet Kane is confident he will be granted the chance to add to his tally from the start, with the forward potentially to be withdrawn in the second half to offer one of his understudies game-time.

“His scoring record of goals per game is outstanding,” said Southgate, who has yet to confirm the selection to his players but is well aware of Kane’s desire to finish as the top scorer in Russia. “He has shown his value to us already both before the tournament and now during the tournament.

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“I know he is incredibly proud already. He is only behind Gary Lineker [10] in terms of World Cup goals for England and that is a wonderful personal achievement for him. Equally, he is the captain and he knows he will be judged on how far we go as a team. He wants to contribute to a winning team and he knows it is not as satisfying if you are a player scoring goals and the team does not win.”

Asked specifically if Kane would start against Belgium, Southgate added on Talksport: “As a manager you have to think of the whole squad and then your second thought is for individuals and their own situations, and that is a really complex balance in any business where you are managing people. But I am sure we can get that right.”

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Danny Rose and Gary Cahill are expected to begin the game in Kaliningrad while checks will be made on the fitness of Dele Alli, who missed the Panama game with a thigh strain, Harry Maguire and Kieran Trippier. Fabian Delph will be involved, with the Manchester City midfielder then planning to fly home for 48 hours to attend the birth of his third child – his wife’s due date is on Saturday – before returning to Russia before the team’s knockout game early next week.