Show caption Harry Kane (centre) will not face Switzerland but Ruben Loftus-Cheek will play in the friendly. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images England Harry Kane rested by Southgate as England manager bids to avoid burnout • Southgate wants to protect Kane and give minutes elsewhere

• Switzerland could inflict fourth successive defeat Daniel Taylor Mon 10 Sep 2018 17.30 EDT Share on Facebook

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Harry Kane will be left out of England’s friendly against Switzerland because Gareth Southgate fears the World Cup Golden Boot winner is in danger of suffering burnout and that, in the modern football world, it is for the national team to provide that rest rather than the player’s club.

Kane, who has started 61 games since the start of last season, is being rested as part of a calculated gamble on Southgate’s part at a time when England face the possibility of losing four games in a row for the first time in their history.

Southgate admitted that England’s attacking options were severely diminished in the absence of the Tottenham striker and he also acknowledged that, if his team could not end their current losing sequence, having lost three successive games for the first time since Euro ’88, the goodwill generated by the team’s performances in Russia would quickly start to ebb away.

However, the England manager is rigidly sticking to his belief that it is more important to “give minutes” to players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph and Danny Welbeck than worry about his own win percentage. On that count he will make nine changes to his team. “I can’t make decisions just to get a win,” he said. “A lot of these guys who are coming into the team have played zero minutes in the league. The right thing for them – and ultimately the right thing for us – is to give them game time.”

Southgate smiled when it was put to him that it was “quite incredible” that the role of an England manager now appears to involve providing time on the pitch for players who would not ordinarily be involved for their clubs. That, however, is the current position for Southgate and, as such, England’s attacking midfielders will be Loftus-Cheek, with 33 minutes in two substitute appearances for Chelsea, and Delph, yet to feature at all for Manchester City. Reluctantly Southgate has abandoned his policy that, if players are not involved for their clubs, they should not expect to win international caps.

Southgate also revealed he was contemplating switching back to a four-man defence in the coming months and, analysing the shortage of obvious replacements for Kane, appeared to end any hopes that Glenn Murray and Troy Deeney might have of a call-up. “There aren’t many English strikers playing,” he said. “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.”

With Jamie Vardy’s self-enforced exile further reducing England’s options, Southgate was also asked about the chances of a recall for Theo Walcott. He claimed “the door was always open to everyone”, though a more accurate assessment of his thoughts could probably be taken from the fact that he answered by talking up Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck, as well as saying he still had high hopes for Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke, another player not to feature for a single minute this season.

“We talked a bit after the World Cup about the demands of the modern player,” Southgate said of the decision to give Kane a break. “Everybody has to play a part in that but theclubs own the players and have to do the right thing for themselves. Normally the clubs would be holding their breath and hiding behind their sofas watching our team go out, but this is one of those occasions where [me] wanting to look at our squad ties in with doing the right thing with the players for our long-term benefit. So I thought this is a good opportunity to do it.”

In Kane’s absence Eric Dier will captain a side that features James Tarkowski alongside Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker in defence, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Danny Rose as the wing-backs and Jack Butland in goal.

Southgate could conceivably have picked a far stronger side and his decision to experiment this way is a bold one when, despite everything England achieved at the World Cup, the paradox is that his win percentage, 50%, is currently no better than Steve McClaren’s time in charge.

“Well, not many England sides have played a World Cup semi-final and a third-v-fourth play-off,” Southgate replied testily to the statistic about England’s three-match losing run. “That focus will come on me and I’m not concerned about it. I will have to live with whatever people want to say about my record, relegations and whatever else fits the bill.