Roy Hodgson warns Tottenham star Harry Kane could see form suffer if handed England captaincy

Former England boss Roy Hodgson has warned Harry Kane's irresistible goal scoring form could suffer if the Tottenham Hotspur star is named the new England captain.

Following a goalless month of August, Kane has scored 11 goals in his last six appearances for the north London club and is considered a strong favourite to win the Premier League's Golden Boot award for the third successive season.

Amid that sensational run of form, the striker also netted a brace for his country in a 4-0 win over Malta in September, a game where he handed the England captaincy over to Jordan Henderson having worn the armband in fixtures against France and Scotland.

Gareth Southgate is yet to decide on a permanent successor to Wayne Rooney, who retired from international duty in August, but Kane has made no secret of his desire to take the role on.

But Crystal Palace boss Hodgson, who left his post with the Three Lions after a miserable Euro 2016 campaign, has suggested both Kane and England would stand to benefit more if he is spared the responsibility of captaining the side.

"I'd like to see him scoring and doing what he does best as a centre forward," Hodgson said, Sky Sports report. "It could be that the captaincy could weigh on him and in some way impact upon that. That will be for Gareth [Southgate] to decide, he will have to look at those things."

Hodgson added: "It is up to Gareth to decide if Kane gets the extra responsibility because being captain of England is a large burden in terms of pass media and public relations duties. I don't know what Gareth is thinking but there is no doubt that Kane could be a captain of England, that goes in my opinion for one or two other players as well."

Kane has scored three times for his country during their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign. Southgate's side can seal their own passage to Russia 2018 as group winners with a win against Slovenia at Wembley on Thursday (5 October).