Rooney Is Not Invisible

England manager Roy Hodgson said there are no guarantees captain Wayne Rooney will always be a starter for the national team.

Rooney recently became England’s all-time goalscorer but Hodgson admitted that the feat does not mean the Manchester United skipper will walk into the starting XI.

The 29-year-old scored his first league goal in 11 games in United’s 3-0 defeat of Sunderland last Saturday, with all five of Hodgson’s selected strikers for the up-coming UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers on the scoresheet last week.

Despite Rooney’s barren scoring form in the Premier League, Hodgson says he cannot envisage a time where the forward is dropped from the national team set-up.

“At the moment, that day has not arrived,” Hodgson said.

“With any luck it won’t arrive because he will continue to play well and he will continue to merit his place and we will still talk as warmly about him after the tournament in June as we are now, but there is no guarantee.

“I have been in football a long time and Wayne Rooney has been in football a long time. He would regard me as someone who is very false if I ever said to him your place is guaranteed.

“He would not expect it, and I would be very upset if anyone asked me to give them a guarantee of a place. No one else has ever done, and I would take umbrage if that day ever arrived.”

England – already qualified for Euro 2016 as Group E leaders – host Estonia on October 9 before travelling to face Lithuania three days later.