England release Harry Kane back to Tottenham before Spain game

The 23-year-old will be allowed to continue his rehabilitation with Tottenham as Southgate prepares his squad for friendly with Spain

Kane will return to White Hart Lane after being an unused substitute for England on Friday (Getty Images)

Gareth Southgate has released Harry Kane from the England squad before their upcoming friendly against Spain on Tuesday so the forward can resume his comeback from injury with Tottenham.

Kane was called up by Southgate for games against Scotland and Spain after scoring on his return from long-term injury against Arsenal in the North London derby last weekend.

However, the Spurs forward was unneeded on Friday night as England cruised to a 3-0 victory over Scotland at Wembley and, after careful deliberation, the interim boss has decided to release the forward before the Three Lions' friendly with Spain so that he can continue his return to fitness on a more appropriate training plan.

Kane has missed the bulk of this season with a serious ankle ligament injury and has only been available for selection since the derby last Sunday.

With an abundance of attacking options at his disposal, Southgate reveals that he never intended to rush Kane back into international football anyway.

"Harry reported for us last week having not played a full game for some seven weeks but Tottenham were more than happy for him to come with us," Southgate told Sky Sports.

"It was never really my intention to start him in a game and I think it's important that he gets a different training programme to what we're going to follow over the next couple of days.

"I'm really grateful to Tottenham for letting us have him for the Qualifier. Once we'd assessed our injury status and the fact we were fine and covered for what we'd do for this game, the sessions that we're going to do aren't what Harry needs at this time, having had such a long lay-off."

Mauricio Pochettino will be pleased to have Kane back unscathed following the international break as Spurs prepare for their upcoming London derby with West Ham on Saturday.