England captain Kane injured his foot while playing for Bayern in the Bundesliga last weekend and was therefore unable to play against Wales. He hopes to return in the World Cup preliminaries against Latvia on Tuesday local time. Arsenal midfielder Rice will temporarily take over the captain's armband from Kane. Tuchel said on Monday that Rice was one of the candidates for captaincy, along with Jordan Henderson and Stones.
Watkins has been a regular fixture in the national team since making his England debut in March 2021. However, the last time the Villa forward started for the Three Lions was in the UEFA Nations League last November. At that time, under the leadership of interim coach Carsley, he scored a goal against Greece. The 2024 European Cup semi-finals were the highlight of Watkins' national team. Watkins scored the winning goal in the 90th minute to help England eliminate the Netherlands and advance to the final, but ultimately lost to Spain 1-2.
Villa's overall performance was poor at the beginning of this season. Watkins only scored one goal against Fulham.