Happy behind Harry Kane? England’s ‘finishers’ have a key role to play as ex-Three Lions striker explains World Cup mentality of Ollie Watkins & Anthony Gordon

Another bid to bring 60 years of international trophy hurt to a close will be opened on Wednesday when facing Croatia at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Said venue usually plays host to the Dallas Cowboys - with the biggest of NFL franchises having taken on the moniker of ‘America’s Team’.

The cream of England’s crop are ready to strut their stuff in billion-dollar surroundings, with a fast start to tournament action important - although not imperative. Kane, on the back of a career-best 61-goal season at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, will be aiming to build on his record-shattering tally of 79 strikes for the Three Lions.

If fully fit, the 32-year-old frontman will spearhead England’s charge towards what they hope will be global glory. Regardless of how others fare in training, Kane will fill the fabled No.9 berth. Competing with an immovable object could dampen the spirits of fellow forwards, as they know that second fiddle is the most prominent role that they can hope to play.

How will that impact the mindset of Aston Villa striker Watkins, Barcelona new boy Gordon and Arsenal title winner Eberechi Eze, as they wait in the wings? Collymore believes that they all have something to offer the collective cause.

The former Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Villa and England frontman - speaking in association BetWright football betting - told GOAL when asked about those on back-up duty: “I think for Ollie, I've watched him a lot this season - quite simply gone to a lot of Villa games, I was in Istanbul and watched the [Europa League] final. And like pretty much every other Aston Villa player, started poorly, then the team generally was very good, but Oli wasn't scoring goals. He kind of made a bit of a promise towards the latter end of the season. He said to Villa fans, ‘don't worry, it'll come, I'm still making the runs’. I was watching him, he was making the runs, but he wasn't getting the service. And the team, you remember the Spurs performance, which got a lot of criticism before the Europa League second leg semi-final against Nottingham Forest, the whole team were poor. So Ollie was poor.

“But I've got to be honest, he ripped through the last four or five games - high-profile games, high-profile final, go to Manchester City and score on the last day to ruin Pep's farewell, scores against Liverpool at Villa Park, a team that we traditionally don't beat. And he's buzzing. It's quite bizarre that I don't think you can turn it on and off like a tap as a player, but the team genuinely did. They went from being one out of 10 against Spurs to being nine, 10 out of 10 in the three biggest games of the season - Liverpool at home, City away, and the Europa League final.

“I think he's just looking at things and saying, ‘in this heat, there's a very good chance I'm going to get at least 30 minutes of game time’. Because we know that Harry Kane likes to drop deeper and deeper. And if England don't make any headway with Harry Kane, or from wide positions - we would expect [Marcus] Rashford on the left, [Bukayo] Saka on the right, or Gordon, or whoever plays in wide positions - then Ollie Watkins is going to get 30 minutes of game time.”

Collymore, who was capped on three occasions by the Three Lions, went on to say of super-subs coming good: “Now, of course, any striker wants to play 90 minutes. But the great thing about being on the bench, you're sitting there, 90, 100 degrees heat - not so much in Dallas, because I think the roof will be on, but certainly for the other games - you're thinking to yourself, ‘get me on, gaffer, get me on’.

“And there's this whole narrative that Thomas Tuchel wants to talk about brotherhood, it's going to be 26 players, it's not going to be 11. And so I think from that, he'll be sitting on the bench, warming up, and think, ‘I'm going to get at least 30 minutes’. And I think he will.

“I think Ollie Watkins will be one of those guys that ends up as a finisher, like Eberechi Eze, like Noni Madueke, like Anthony Gordon. And again, I was at the last friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando, and the second half, in inverted commas, finishers were much livelier, much sharper than the first warm-up game against New Zealand.

“So I think that four or five or six players, with pace, coming off the back of a good season, as Ollie Watkins undoubtedly has after winning a trophy, I think he'll be relatively happy with that. If the narrative was all about, this is the first 11, Thomas Tuchel's got his favourites, he's not bringing Harry Kane off, it's ridiculous, Kane isn't playing very well, then I think it's a very different conversation.

“But I think that all of those finishers will be happy to be finishers because, let's be perfectly honest, tough Premier League season, 70, 80, 90, 100 degree heat, 30 minutes as a pro footballer to go on and make your mark is still ample time to be able to do that. So I don't think he's going to be as downcast as a lot of people would think, and I think he's got a major part to play in England's success, if we get any.”

Tuchel will be looking to shuffle his pack at times, especially if England can burst out of the blocks and get qualification for the last-32 wrapped up inside 180 minutes of action against Croatia and Ghana.

Once knockout competition begins, then potential game-changers on the bench will come into their own. There will be matches that require something different, a flash of inspiration from someone that did not make the starting XI. That is where the likes of Watkins, Gordon, Eze, Madueke and Ivan Toney can make their mark on the grandest of sporting stages.