Gareth Southgate told to make 'big statement' and DROP Harry Kane for England's Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands as former Three Lions star calls on Ivan Toney to start

Bridge, who played for England 36 times between 2002 and 2009, suggested he would rather have seen Southgate drop Kane in a game that didn't have much riding on it - like the third group stage fixture against Slovenia - but would still personally bench Kane in favour of Toney...or perhaps Ollie Watkins.

Kane has scored twice in five games at Euro 2024, including England's extra-time winner against Slovakia in the last 16. But he has struggled to make a consistent impact with his overall performances, failing to fully click with the wingers and midfielders supporting him. Overall, England have progressed as far as the competition's last four by grinding out results rather than blowing teams away, with Southgate and Kane in particular taking the brunt of frustrated criticism from fans and pundits.

Bridge told Betfred: "It would be a big statement for somebody to come out and say 'drop Harry Kane', but if you're in the manager's position, then can you really drop him? I would like to see it however, just to see how things change.

"I'd love to see either Ivan Toney or Ollie Watkins get more of a chance. It's a big call to drop Harry Kane, but it's one of them that I wish they did in the final group game which they didn't desperately have to win because it would have been good to experiment and see how it goes. If you asked me whether or not to drop Harry Kane, then I'd probably say yes and have Ivan Toney up front but in Gareth's position, it would be a very difficult call to make."

England have reached three semi-finals across Southgate's four major tournaments as manager. When he took charge in late 2016, the underperforming national team had made it to just two semi-finals in their last 17 tournament appearances - nine World Cups and eight European Championships - across 38 years.

England are on the brink of reaching a second successive Euro final but must overcome a Dutch side who have been more free in terms of finding the net. That being said, they have conceded plenty too, with a group stage draw against a surprisingly blunt France their only clean sheet in five games. Kane is expected to be fit after being his substitution in extra-time against Switzerland in the quarter-final was put down to nothing more than double cramp.