John Terry snubs England return

Wayne Rooney set to keep captain’s armband

Wayne Rooney is set to keep the England captaincy after John Terry declined Sam Allardyce’s offer to rejoin the squad after 4 years.

Allardyce will name his squad today for his first game as England manager- against Slovakia as part of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Rooney will be included alongside a number of Euro 2016 absentees including Danny Drinkwater, Luke Shaw and Phil Jagielka with winger Andros Townsend also coming under consideration.

Though an official announcement about the captaincy isn’t expected to be made until the middle of next week, it is understood Allardyce has no plans to remove 30-year-old Rooney from the job for Sunday’s awkward tie in Trnava.

The Manchester United striker has scored a record 53 goals in 115 appearances for England but was criticised after captaining the team to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat against Iceland at the European Championship in June.

Terry, 35, will not be involved however despite concerns over England’s options in the middle of defence.

By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10