Freescoring Kane targets World Cup berth for England

August's drought gave way to September's flood for England skipper Harry Kane. The Tottenham Hotspur striker failed to hit the target at the start of the English Premier League season.

Harry Kane will lead England out against Slovenia. Reuters/John Sibley

But come September, he scored 13 goals in eight games for club and country.

Kane, 24, will lead England out at Wembley on Thursday night for their penultimate match in Group F. If the hosts overcome Slovenia, who lie third in the pool, they will qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"As a kid you always dream of playing for your country and you dream about being captain as well," said Kane. "To walk out at Wembley as captain, that will be an amazing thing for me personally."

He added: "But nothing changes. I will go out there and try to do my job as best as I can for the team to try and score goals and to try and win the match."

England have won six and draw two of their games in their qualifying group. Even if the match at Wembley fails to provide the three points, a draw might suffice if Scotland beat second placed Slovakia at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Thursday night.

If that permutation does not succeed, England can wrap up the group with victory in their final game at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius on Sunday against Lithuania.

In the prelude to the match at Wembley, Kane revealed that innovations in his kitchen had preceded his goal scoring exploits.

"Over the last year or so, I've changed a lot off the pitch with the nutrition side of it," he said. "It kind of clicked in my head that a football career is so short. It goes so quickly. You've just got to make every day count. So I've got a chef at home to eat the right food, which is big for recovery.

"You can't train as hard as you'd like when you have so many games, so you have to make the little gains away from football as well.

"That's recovery, sleep, eating the right food. That will definitely help me going into a tournament year and hopefully keep me fresh all year round."

Kane said he was introduced to his chef by an acquaintance last December. The chef visits the house six days a week and has been helping the striker understand how his body reacts to different foods.

"You could eat healthily all week and then have loads of carbohydrates before a game But you've not eaten those carbs all week and your body goes into a little bit of shock," Kane said.

"It's more just planning it: when we have double training sessions, maybe higher carbs when the sessions are a bit lighter, it'd be lower.

"I still eat what I was eating, nothing really new. I'm not a big fish fan but he's got me eating a bit more fish for my Omega-3 fatty acids. And a few spices on that to help."

More goals at the start of October would add some relish.