Harry Kane breaks silence on Gary Lineker's viral analysis of his Euro 2024 performances with telling answer

England captain Harry Kane has responded to Gary Lineker's viral analysis of his performances at Euro 2024 so far.

Kane was speaking at a press conference ahead of the Three Lions' Group C clash against Slovenia on Tuesday.

The Bayern Munich star scored his first goal of the tournament in his second attempt during the 1-1 draw against Denmark on Thursday.

But he was substituted by Gareth Southgate after 70 minutes, and was criticised by some for his positioning high up the pitch in the 1-0 win over Serbia and resulting lack of impact on the game.

After the Denmark clash, Lineker gave a lengthy analysis of why Kane hasn't been having the influence he would have liked during the opening Euro 2024 matches.

He said that Kane 'needs to do a lot better', and described his movement as 'minimal'.

Lineker also described how the forward was 'plodding short', and added: "I think he needs his manager to say, 'Right, I need a little bit more from you, Harry'. I'd have expected that, if I'd have had that sort of performance.

"As a striker, he's up against three at the back. So he has got to stretch that team ... so when you get the ball coming short, you don't have to go 20 yards to get it short. He ambles in and ambles in, and they just let him go so he doesn't get it.

"He's not creating the space for himself, for a start."

Now, speaking in a pre-match press conference, Kane has responded to Lineker's comments and the analysis from other pundits as a whole about his England performances.

He said: "I'd never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially a player that's worn the shirt and knows what it's like to play for England.

"What maybe ex-players, ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise, it's very hard not to listen to it now, especially for young players who are not used to it or some players are new to the environment.

"I always feel like they have a responsibility, I know they've got to be honest and have their opinion but they have a responsibility as an ex-England player that a lot of players looked up to, people do care about what they say and do listen to them.

"Everyone has got their opinion, but the bottom line is we haven't won nothing as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that, and they know how tough it is.

"It's not digging anyone out, but it's just the reality that they do know it's tough to play in these major tournaments and tough to play for England.

"I'd never disrespect any ex-player. All I would say is, remember what it was like to wear this shirt and that their words are listened to.

"Some of the lads, I don't know how many of the lads, you do hear it, we all want to win a major tournament, I'm sure they want us to win a major tournament. And yeah, being as helpful as they can, building the lads up with confidence would be a much better way of going about it."

More to follow...