England’s solution is to play Harry Kane and Ivan Toney together

When Ivan Toney was included in England’s 26-man squad for the European Championship it appeared he would simply be Harry Kane’s understudy. Now he should be the captain’s strike partner, such was Toney’s impact after coming on as a 94th-minute substitute during the last-16 tie against Slovakia.

England were losing, but by the time Toney walked off the pitch, after extra-time, they had turned it around and are in the quarter-finals.

Kane had been substituted by then, exhausted. But suddenly Gareth Southgate may have stumbled on the solution to England’s attacking conundrums. The answer? Start with Toney as the No 9, the point of the attack, and play Kane in behind him as a second striker; a No 10.

Southgate is highly unlikely to do it. He is intent on not deviating from the front four that he has kept faith with throughout this tournament with Jude Bellingham – if, as expected, he escapes suspension for a lewd gesture made after his wonder-goal equaliser – in the middle of the three behind Kane and Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka on the flanks.

The England manager will regard Toney as he regards Cole Palmer: as a player who can make a significant impact from the bench when the opposition are tiring. They are seen as finishers rather than starters.

But Toney has staked his claim and has pushed his case with 32 minutes of aggressive, energetic, intelligent forward play that undoubtedly helped Kane. It was not until the 94th minute that he arrived at this tournament as Southgate’s final throw of the dice.

The manager would later admit that Toney was not happy with him being asked to come on quite so late, with just two minutes of the six added minutes to go and barely time to affect the game, and the forward agreed.

“The dying moments you kind of think as a sub: ‘Ah, it’s going to the final whistle. When is your chance going to come?’” Toney said. “But coming as a substitute you have to be ready. You don’t know when it’s going to happen and football’s a crazy game. It changes like that and it did. And then going into extra-time the momentum was on our side and we have got players to change a game and we’ve done that.”

In fact Toney won eight of the 10 duels – in the air and on the ground – that he was involved with. He earned an assist, created a ‘big chance’ and he occupied the Slovakian defenders, particularly their captain and centre-half Milan Skriniar, to create space for Kane.

The winning goal? It was not a product of intricate, incisive play but of a much more basic approach with Kane revealing what Toney had told him following Jude Bellingham’s last-gasp equalising goal.

“‘Ive’ [Ivan] said to me as we were walking on to the pitch to start extra-time: ‘Aitch, I like to go back post for crosses and that. Just be there for the knock-downs,’” Kane said. “He knocks one across and I’m there to finish it. It couldn’t be better.”

It was less than a minute into extra-time and Toney agreed. “To be fair, it’s just striker’s instinct. Be at the right place at the right time,” he said. “I would knock it back across and he would be there. Aitch doing what Aitch does. I knew he would put everything into that.”

There will be those who scoff at the notion of England – effectively – winning with the good old-fashioned notion of ‘putting it in the mixer’ (ie. getting in crosses and winning headers) as they did for both goals against Slovakia. But that is a disservice to the football Toney can play. We already know it is not Kane’s style.

Two games ago, Southgate talked about a re-set for England. It did not happen. What he meant then was pressing with more energy and showing more urgency. What it needs now is a change of personnel to kick-start that. He will have to use another central defender – with Marc Guehi suspended – but a more fundamental and effective change would come with re-configuring his attack and dropping Bellingham back.

It would help Kane, his most potent goal-scorer, who has looked isolated and it would give Switzerland with their three-man defence a different kind of problem. Teams evolve during tournaments, Southgate said that. Now he needs to show it.