England vs Portugal reaction: Blame me and Jamie Vardy for Wembley woe, says Harry Kane

Roy Hodgson came in for criticism for not using the talents of his strike pairing at Wembley

Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy struggled in the new system for England (Getty)

Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane has said that he and Jamie Vardy must take personal responsibility for operating too wide during England's unconvincing win over Portugal, which left them out of position when goal-scoring opportunities arose.

The average positions the pair took up were baffling, depriving England of its two in-form goal-scoring talents in the six-yard box and leaving Wayne Rooney best placed to score.

The formation looked more like a 4-3-3 with Kane and Vardy on the flanks. “I think they made it difficult when they went down to 10 men because they really dropped off and shut up the middle of the pitch,” said Kane, who revealed England had been working on a 4-3-3 as well as the diamond I training.

“Me and Jamie felt we had to go a bit wider to get the ball and in hindsight maybe we should have stayed a bit closer together. It's something we've got to learn from. The manager's got to pick his team and his formation for the first game v Russia and we've got to be ready and prepared for whatever that is.”

Kane did not go to ground when subjected to the high studs challenge which saw Bruno Alves sent off though he said that England players may need to be “cuter” in the European Championships.

"We know we've got to be a bit cuter but if the refs are on their game, like they were [against Portugal], we'll be fine,” he said. "We can use experiences like today in the tournament.

"I'm always someone who always gets up and doesn't make the most of it. Obviously international football is a bit different, it's something maybe we can learn from and look at and do things better but the ref's made the right decision in the end so it didn't really matter.

Kane’s club team-mate Eric Dier suggested players might go to ground more. "I know what Dier means but I think a lot of English players are known not to go down as easy as other countries,” Kane said. “We'll see what happens come the tournament but hopefully the refs stay strong.”

Kane said that the speech Wayne Rooney gave to the players at a gathering on Wednesday had been quietly influential.

"He was just giving us past experiences, what he went through. What to look out for because there's a lot of us haven't been to a major tournament. We'll keep it between us but it was great of him to stand up and give us an insight into what he's been through at previous tournaments. It was about experiences he's had, what to look out for, what he found tough and it was good to hear.”