Cole Palmer put England on track to victory against Bosnia-Herzegovnia from the penalty spot but admitted there would be no question over who had the duties should Harry Kane have been on the pitch.
The Chelsea star bagged nine spot kicks in his debut season for the Blues and has been perfect from 12 yards after enjoying a very successful season. When Ezri Konsa was judged to have been fouled in the box on Monday evening, the 22-year-old quickly claimed the ball to give himself the chance to score his first England goal and made no mistake.
Palmer has seen his Blues teammates attempt to claim penalty responsibilities from him throughout the season in west London, despite his stellar record. Raheem Sterling first attempted to pull rank before Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson showed some petulance in attempting to claim the ball versus Everton. Palmer scored on both of those occasions.
The Manchester City youth product would not harbour hopes of doing the same to Kane however. The England captain was preparing to come on the pitch as Palmer lined up his shot.
"Of course he [Kane] would've took it, it was just before he came on. Thankfully, I took it." Palmer told Channel 4 following the game. "It's a great feeling, my first goal for my country," he added. "When it went in, I was buzzing."
Palmer made his first England start in the 3-0 win after making his debut in for the side in November. The young forward will be hopeful of making the trip to Germany for his first senior international tournament. In 2023 he was part of the England team that won the UEFA European under-21 Championship
"I hope so," he said. Tonight wasn't my best game, finding my feet on my first start but hopefully, I've done enough."
While Palmer appears happy to concede to Kane's penalty taking seniority for the Three Lions, Kane had hopes of coming on the pitch to add to his goal tally. The Bayern Munich star, making his return from injury, asked manager Gareth Southgate if he could be substituted on in time to take the penalty.
Southgate speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, revealed: "He had the audacity to ask to come on and to score the penalty which was never going to happen! The plan for him today was to have half-an-hour and then he will start on Friday."
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