Antonio Conte says England captain Harry Kane is in good condition and mentally stronger for Qatar World Cup

But with the England squad set for their first training session in Qatar on Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur manager Conte has changed his tune and now says the captain is "in the best physical and mental condition" for the coming five weeks.

With 70 of its 820 caps, 29-year-old Kane is the second-most experienced member of the England squad behind Raheem Sterling (75 caps) but it is his goalscoring exploits which really set him apart.

Kane’s 51 England goals are impressive enough on their own, but even more so considering the other 25 players have only 67 combined.

Callum Wilson, who has not worn the Three Lions for three years, is the only other specialist centre-forward. A lot, therefore, rests on Kane's shoulders, so to hear Conte talking about him being "really, really tired" after a League Cup tie England fans would rather he had sat out last week was worrying.

But speaking to the media after Kane scored his 14th goal of the season (one for England against Germany) in Saturday's 4-3 win over Leeds United, Conte said his talisman was ready, enthusiastic and in good condition for the first winter World Cup.

"He goes to the World Cup with great enthusiasm, in a really good physical condition and mentally stronger than before," said Conte, a substitute for Italy in the 1994 semi-final but unused in the final.

"I see a player that is ready. In his eyes I see the desire to be a protagonist in the best competition in the world, the World Cup."

To hear him talk about Kane's improved mental strength was encouraging, because the bar on that was already pretty high.

At the last tournament Kane became only the second Englishman to win the golden boot and after a poor start to the last European Championship, he came alive in the knockout stages, scoring all four of his goals there, including the extra-time winner that booked England’s place in the final.

Since the 2018 World Cup he has evolved from out-and-out centre-forward to a player who likes to drop deep at times and link the play, creating space for wide forwards like Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford to run into.

"The way he decided he has to improve himself is really important," said Conte. "We are talking about a really world-class striker but he can continue to improve and become stronger and stronger.

"He is arriving at this World Cup in the best physical and mental condition.

"He feels a lot of responsibility because he is captain of England, one of the best teams in the world, one of the candidates to have an important tournament. He wants to play an amazing tournament.

"I wish him and England the best. Because Italy are not playing this World Cup I can support England."

Kane is never one to sit out matches and said recently he prefers to be going straight into a World Cup from the domestic season, rather than having the usual pause for recharging batteries in the summer.

He has missed just 43 minutes of football for Tottenham this season and none for England. He even started three of the four summer Nations League games and came off the bench in the other.

At club level it has not just been about minutes, he has carried extra responsibility.

"I think in this period, especially the last 13 games, Harry played a really important role,” reflected Conte, whose side have played in the Europa Conference League as well as domestically.

"Harry had to play a lot because we had many injuries up front – we lost (Dejan) Kulusevski, then Richarlison and being without Lucas Moura from the start it was difficult. Son (Heung-min) struggled a bit (for form) at the start of the season.

"Harry deserves great praise because he's always an important player but in this period a lot of weight was on his shoulders. He played in a fantastic way."

Kieran Trippier is the only other England outfielder who can match Kane's ever-present club record this season and Newcastle United have not been playing in Europe.

If the tiredness of certain players is something manager Gareth Southgate has to worry about, he must also weigh up the rustiness of others.

The Yorkshire trio of Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips have not played enough, thanks to form in the first case and injury for the Manchester City pair. Phillips returned from a shoulder injury last week but has played only 54 minutes this season, Walker is not expected to feature until late in the group stage and of Maguire's seven starts this season, two were with England.

Getting the right fitness work into everyone for Monday's World Cup opener against Iran will be a tricky balancing act.