Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford to be fit for England's Euro 2020 campaign
By ITV News Sports Producer Dan Salisbury-Jones
Injured England strikers Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford will be fit for this summer’s European Championships, according to injury experts.
All the stats suggest both players will play again before the end of the Premier League season and the break could even benefit England.
Analyst Ben Dinnery from Premier Injuries says: “There are no guarantees whatsoever but the data strongly suggests they’ll both be fit.
“It’s likely they will get three to four competitive games before the end of the season which could actually stand England in good stead because by the start of the Euros they should be firing. Of course, it would have to be a smooth recovery, there can’t be any major setbacks.
“I look at it purely from a data standpoint, if someone is telling me a player could be out for six months but I’ve got the data to suggest there’s a silver lining on the cloud, I think it’s definitely worth sharing.”
In total, seven Premier League players have had the same hamstring surgery as Kane and even the slowest of their recoveries would give the England striker enough time to make the Euros.
Dinnery added: “Tottenham’s timeline of Kane returning in April is very realistic, it’s not some sort of punt to try and appease supporters.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the hyperbole with high profile players. From what we’ve seen, Kane has always been a quick healer, he’s always returned on schedule or even ahead of time.”
Rashford tweeted that he would be back before the end of the domestic season and that is also backed up by the data. But there is precedent which, if replicated, would mean the Manchester United man missing the European Championships, as former Tottenham and Portsmouth midfielder Jamie O’Hara was out for 264 days in 2011 with a double fracture in his lower back.
On the flipside, Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen recovered in just 68 days from the same issue. If Rashford had a similar recovery, he would be playing again well before Easter.
They are the exceptions to the rule though. Four of the seven Premier League players to experience Rashford’s injury were out for between 101- 103 days, which would mean Rashford being available for three league games before the end of the season.