Gareth Southgate has hailed England captain Harry Kane as the best goalscorer in the world after his late strike secured the 2-1 win over Croatia to top their Uefa Nations League group.

Kane had not scored since the World Cup round-of-16 clash with Colombia, having featured in seven games for England since before Sunday’s game.

His work off the ball, dropping deep and linking the likes of Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford has remained imperative and, while Southgate has sometimes been criticised for leaving Kane on the pitch, the Tottenham forward once more proved his worth as England brought a stunning year to a close.

Going into a 2019 which will see England contest the finals of the Nations League in Portugal come June, Southgate says the striker’s hunger is greater than ever.

READ MORE: Championship clubs hoping to bin Sky TV deal struggling to find alternative

READ MORE: Mourinho needs time to fix Manchester United - Veron

READ MORE: Keita will do ‘great things’ for Liverpool – Mane

“He is the best goalscorer in the world, frankly,” Southgate said. “You’re always loathe to take a player off of his ability.

"I know people have criticised those decisions over the summer, but he is our penalty taker, our leader and in 98 per cent of the games his hold-up play and everything else he brings as well as his goalscoring is critical.

"He played a fantastic pass for Raheem [Sterling] having dropped off and turned in the first half.

“We have huge belief in him and he is so hungry to lead the team on and lead the team further.”

Kane will not reunite with his England teammates for a training camp now until March, when Euro 2020 qualification preparations for the finals in the summer begin.