Harry Kane rubbishes August hex as he discusses Daniel Levy's negotiating and Danny Rose's Tottenham comments

The striker is one of those in contention to take over the captain's armband from Wayne Rooney

Kane knows he will start scoring soon after failing to net so far this season (Getty)

It’s got to the point where the England players are joking about it with Harry Kane, even though he may reap his revenge against many of them over the course of the season.

Yes, they’ve been laughing about Kane's supposed hex on scoring in August with Tottenham Hotspur, as they prepare for Friday’s World Cup qualifier in Valetta.

“The Malta game is on September 1, so we’ve all had a little joke about it. I should be good to go now,” Kane smiles.

He proves that by later blasting a foam ball past stand-in goalkeeper Dele Alli in the indoor football hall at St George’s Park, but insists it just isn’t on his mind.

“You guys know that I won’t be too worried about that. I’ve had two very good seasons without scoring in August before, so I just need to keep my head down and work hard because I know the goals will come. I’ve hit the post twice this season, so I am getting in the right positions. I am feeling good and sharp, so I’m not too worried.

“I’m going to have spells like this, but it just seems to be at this time of the year, no matter what shape I am in.

“I just have to stay mentally focused and do my job. My job now is to try to score for England in these next two games and go from there.”

Kane is one player who won’t be going anywhere in the transfer market today, or for the foreseeable, as he reveals that he doesn’t have a buy-out clause and still has absolutely no interest in playing for anyone but Tottenham Hotspur.

“No, I haven’t and I haven’t really thought about it. I’m fully committed to Spurs, as you all know, so there is no reason to have one to be honest.”

Kane doesn’t have too much interest in deadline day either, even though he plays for a club - or, rather, a chairman in Daniel Levy - who have become famous for late deals and being the most active on the last day.

“To be totally honest I don’t really have it on. Of course the gaffer will get in who he wants to get in. I’ll be interested to see who we get in but I’m not that interested in other teams. I’m focused on Tottenham.

Kane has never scored a Premier League goal in August (Getty)

“Daniel likes to do it on the last day to get the best deal, but we just have to wait and see. Daniel is a great businessman, the way he runs the club, the new training ground, the new stadium, he does what he wants to do. Some chairmen are different. But he does what he does and feels it’s the best way to help out the team.”

Kane hasn’t quite had to face Levy down at the other end of negotiations, mind.

“I don’t do my contracts myself. He’s a businessman, he knows what he wants, he’s been around for a long time, he’s great for our club, he runs it in a very good way. The facilities we've got now are second to none so from our players’ point of view, I don’t deal with him face to face so I wouldn’t know how intimidating he really is.”

Daniel Levy is a notoriously tough organiser (Getty)

Levy’s policy as regards to Spurs has come under increased scrutiny this summer, after the comments of Danny Rose and how he wanted the side to sign players he didn’t have to “google”. Kane does not condemn the full-back, but does have what could be perceived as the mildest of rebukes.

“He said what he said, but he now just needs to concentrate on getting himself fit and helping us again at Spurs.”

If the feeling remains that his club side are on the brink of another strong challenge despite a stuttering start to the season, the same cannot be said of Kane’s country. England still have so much to prove but the frustration right now is that, no matter how easily they qualify for the World Cup in Russia next summer, none of it will really be taken that seriously until the first knock-out game. Kane accepts that view.

Danny Rose gave an interview where he admitted he wanted to leave Spurs (Getty)

“It’s fair enough. At the end of the day, we’ve not won anything for a long time. We’ve had some good teams in the past but we’ve still won nothing. From our point of view, we’re in a situation where we’ve got to try and win something and that would be one of the biggest achievements in English history. The teams have gone past have found it difficult, we’ve found it difficult in recent years but we have to somehow change that around and see what happens next summer.

“The most important thing for us now is to qualify for the World Cup and we can do that by winning the next two games. If that’s done and dusted then we can really start preparing. Our friendlies are always against top teams so we can see where we are at. France [a 3-2 defeat in Paris in June] was a good experience for us. They were in the final of the Euros a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t say the gap is massive but we can work on that.

“I don’t think we’re that far away. We’re a little bit behind at the minute. France are an extremely good team with a lot of good players to choose from but so are we.

“The biggest is playing tournament football. It’s easy to say that. Ability wise I don’t think we’re far off from each other. But it’s producing on that big stage. We talk about it a lot, we can probably talk about it a lot more from now on leading up to the World Cup. It’s something that we’ve got to change. There’s nothing I can say in words that can change that. We’ve just got to try and prove that on the pitch. We will do all we can, work hard together and hopefully it will come together at the right time.”

It’s also the right time for Kane to get back on the scoresheet.