England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed captain and record scorer Wayne Rooney will sit out Friday’s friendly against Spain.
Rooney appeared alongside Hodgson at the pre-match Press conference but the manager explained he was there only in an official capacity, not because he’ll be involved at Jose Rico Perez.
“Wayne's with me because he's the captain of our team, he's the most important figure as a result, but he actually won't start the game,” the BBC quotes Hodgson as saying.
“I'm telling you that because Wayne and I are very anxious that we're not trying to fool anybody or bamboozle anybody when he's sat alongside me.
“That's for the very simple reason that we're looking at various combinations and it will be good for me to see how various combinations are developing.
“At the front we've got Wayne and Jamie [Vardy] we've got Harry [Kane] and Ross Barkley, there are combinations there that interest me.”
Hodgson declined to name the XI that will take to the field in Alicante and there are reports Leicester City striker Vardy is a doubt through injury.
For his part, Rooney added that he always wants to play, but understood the manager needed to use friendly games to look at his options.
“It's important especially in these games that the manager has a chance to see as many players as he can before the tournament in the summer,” Sky Sports quotes the Manchester United skipper as suggesting.
“As a player you want to play but you have understand that there are bigger things to consider.”
