Football: Hodgson urges Kane to build on perfect debut

England manager Roy Hodgson backed Harry Kane to enjoy a long and distinguished international career after the Tottenham Hotspur striker marked his debut with a goal after only 80 seconds.

With Kane having scored 29 goals for Spurs this season, there was huge expectation about his England bow and the 21-year-old duly delivered, rising from the bench to score the fourth goal of a one-sided 4-0 win over Lithuania in Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier at Wembley.

Kane will now hope to start in Tuesday's friendly against Italy in Turin and Hodgson said that he had no qualms about the striker's ability to handle the increased attention that his goal is certain to generate.

"I think he'll put pressure on himself because he's a good professional," Hodgson told his post-match press conference.

"I don't think he's a person who'll buckle under pressure, but he'll have to accept the media spotlight, which is already enormous, will get bigger.

"But he's in good hands with (manager) Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham and us here. We'll make sure we don't built him up to knock him down, but build him up to be a big part of our future.

"He is still a young man, but what could be better than making his debut and scoring a goal? Wayne Rooney did it and never looked back."

Rooney opened the scoring against Lithuania in the sixth minute by heading in after Danny Welbeck's shot was parried by goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis.

It took the Manchester United striker to 47 England goals -- two shy of Bobby Charlton's all-time record.

Man-of-the-match Welbeck made it 2-0 with a header that deflected in off Tadas Kijanskas and Rooney then teed up Raheem Sterling to tap in his first England goal in the 58th minute.

'Europe will be frightened'

Sterling set up Kane's goal in the 73rd minute, wriggling to the byline on the left and lofting in a cross that the Spurs man met with a firm downward header.

Sterling will now return to Liverpool for an injection on a troublesome toe, while Hodgson said that Welbeck was likely to miss the trip to Italy after sustaining a "tweak to the knee" late in the game.

With Daniel Sturridge having already succumbed to a hip problem, it leaves Rooney and Kane as the only fit strikers in the squad, but Hodgson was coy about the latter's chances of starting at Juventus Stadium.

"We'll see. Obviously his chances get bigger all the time we're losing these players," the England manager said.

"There's no Welbeck, possibly, no Daniel Sturridge and no Raheem Sterling, so I haven't got front players coming out of the hat, but we'll wait and see."

Left-back Leighton Baines and midfielder James Milner will also leave the squad, with Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand the only player brought in.

England have now won seven consecutive games for the first time since 2006 and Rooney said that their form will not have gone unnoticed by their continental rivals.

"Since the World Cup, we have been fantastic," the England captain told ITV.

"We've had some great victories, are scoring goals and we have real energy around the team. A lot of teams will be looking at this team around Europe and will be frightened."

England's victory extended their perfect record in Group E and preserved their six-point lead over Slovenia and Switzerland at the halfway point of the qualifying tournament.