Rogers: Playing alongside Kane an honour

Morgan Rogers says it was an honour to share the pitch with Harry Kane as the Three Lions captain marked his record 126th England cap by scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League.

Kane was at his clinical best to convert a second-half penalty at Wembley, securing the three points that booked Thomas Tuchel’s side’s place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare.

The Three Lions skipper was honoured before kick-off, with a huge tifo celebrating his landmark appearance, while he also received recognition from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Peter Shilton, whose record he broke.

Having recently won the Ballon d’Or, this was the latest achievement in Kane’s glittering career and, for Rogers, his teammate’s success is no surprise.

“For us to be on the pitch tonight is a special honour,” he said.

"Credit to him, he treated it like every other game. He's relentless, keeps his work ethic and his focus and that's where he gets the result.

“That's why he's the Ballon d'Or winner, his mindset and his work rate is relentless. He doesn't get there by accident."

It was Rogers who opened the scoring at Wembley, bundling home from close range after the visitor’s defence failed to deal with Jude Bellingham’s cut back.

Croatia responded through Petar Sucic, before Kane scored from the spot after Ivan Smolcic pulled Jarell Quansah at an England corner.

Having recorded an emphatic 7-0 victory over the same opposition last month, England faced a sterner test on home soil, but Rogers says Tuchel’s men were braced for an entirely different contest.

“They played differently to how we expected,” he said.

“They played with less fear and it was tough. They're still good players, still Croatia who we have played before and in the World Cup in the first game we struggled against them.

“We knew it wasn't going to be that type of game [7-0], we knew we'd have to dig deep and find a different way of winning and we did that.”

England travel to Madrid on Sunday 15 November (7.45pm kick-off) to face Spain in their final UEFA Nations League group game knowing victory would secure top spot.