England national football team: Who is the best striker after Harry Kane?

Thank God for Harry Kane.

The Bayern Munich star is likely to start England’s match in Riga against Latvia on Tuesday evening as he hopes to add to his impressive run of 18 goals from his past 10 matches.

A minor injury ruled Kane out of England’s 3-0 win over Wales on Thursday night, with Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins – the only other striker in the squad – taking part.

But during the match, Watkins hit the post and was subsequently ruled out of the Latvia match due to injury.

Once again, England fans are buzzing about their striker options behind skipper Kane, and the answer does not seem clear.

Remarkably, only seven English players who can be classified as outright strikers have featured in the Premier League this season, with Chelsea’s Liam Delap the only player of the seven who is under the age of 26.

The other six are Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Eddie Nketiah, Dominic Solanke, Watkins, Danny Welbeck and Callum Wilson.

England Under-21s coach Lee Carsley has noted England’s lack of options at centre-forward, saying on Monday: “We need more strikers, we need more traditional strikers who can score goals. We really value that position.”

“I think it’s not uncommon to play wide midfielders or to play them pulled back. I think it’s something we have to be aware of. The striker, the scorer, the player who plays on the shoulder and the focal point is something I appreciate.”

While England first-team coach Thomas Tuchel has a selection headache across the pitch – due to the abundance of options – his selection as Kane’s deputy at the World Cup presents a different problem for a very different reason.

With England close to qualifying for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico just one win away, the race to be Kane’s replacement is well underway.

BBC Sport selected five options, each of whom scored 25 goals for England, compared to Kane’s tally of 74 goals.