England coach Roy Hodgson admitted his anger over training ground ‘espionage’ after a picture showing Harry Kane in a possible starting line-up emerged. Photographers watching Kane’s first training session with the senior squad on Tuesday seemed to stumble on Hodgson’s possible selection for Friday’s European Qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. They took shots of an England formation on a scrap of paper in Hodgson’s hand, which showed Spurs striker Kane partnered with captain Wayne Rooney.

Andros Townsend, Ross Barkley, Ryan Mason and Theo Walcott were named in a four-man midfield in front of centre backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling for what was an attacking drill. But Hodgson was upset at what he saw as “espionage” even though the pictures came from a part of the training session that was open to the media, and he says there should be no assumptions that Kane will start. “That is dangerous to do that (assume Kane will start),” Hodgson said. “First of all it is dangerous to spy on those things at a training session. The fact is that piece of paper is a piece of paper we take out to training because we have to select teams. “I don’t think it’s right to suggest that in order to avoid this type of espionage I have to remember everything I have thought about but we change people around quite often. “If that is what people want to read into the espionage that is up to them but I hope they are not going to come and blame me if I don’t start with Kane and Rooney and say ‘we had it on your piece of paper’ because they shouldn’t be looking at it in the first place.”