Graeme Souness blasts Gareth Southgate over Harry Kane decision - 'It's totally wrong'

Graeme Souness has slammed England manager Gareth Southgate for not replacing Harry Kane after suffering an ankle injury against Iran.

The English Football Association are tight-lipped on the captain's fitness, but it is understood the Tottenham striker was due for a CT scan ahead of Friday's clash with the United States.

Kane took a hit in their opening 6-2 win over Iran but played on before finally being substituted in the second half.

While Graeme Souness believes Kane takes some of the blame for staying on as he could feel he had the opportunity to score, the former Scotland captain believes Southgate should have removed him immediately given his background injuries.

“It was bad. The weight of the boy (Morteza Pouraliganji) was on Harry's ankle,” Souness – who faced Roy Keane while on duty on Tuesday – told ITV1.

"He will have had micro-bleeds in his ankle and you still run on it for another 27 minutes.

"That's totally wrong. He should have left immediately and he should have been in the ice, in an elevated position, immediately.

"It's not rocket science. He has a history with a dodgy ankle; get him down. He needed to be saved from himself."

Former England right-back and ex-assistant manager Gary Neville admits he is worried about Kane's injury as he doesn't believe there is a similar replacement.

"I'm a little worried because England are a little timid about it," he said.

"There is no direct replacement for him, no one can tie the game like him.

"I think (Callum) Wilson and (Marcus) Rashford are good when there is space behind but when you have a team with a full defense you struggle when you don't have a player which is good back to goal."

England take on USA on Friday night in their second World Cup Group B clash.

Gregg Berhalter's side looked impressive in the opening 45 minutes against Wales on matchday one, but were comfortably second in the second half.

Wales boss Rob Page opted to start Daniel James over Kieffer Moore and it turned out to be a very bad decision given the Fulham striker's anonymous performance as he was in the field.

Not natural. 9 Kieffer Moore came on at halftime and played a big part in the Dragons' well-deserved point.

READ MORE: Germany stunned and embarrassed again after falling to land of rising submarines