Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney does not have any form of injury, according to England manager Roy Hodgson despite the 27-year-old missing the Community Shield match on Sunday.
During a press conference before the Wembley encounter with Wigan Athletic, new United boss David Moyes revealed that Rooney isn’t fit enough to play and will miss the final and may miss the opening stages of the new Premier League season.
United eventually went on to beat Wiga 2-0 thanks to a brace from Robin Van Persie, but just a day later, Roy Hodgson has revealed that Rooney hasn’t got any form of injury and has admitted that he looks fit and ready for action.
Hodgson said: ‘It’s difficult to know with the naked eye how match-fit people are but there was no doubt he was not suffering any physical injury.
‘We get data back from our sessions and I’ll be interested to know how that looks. Since he got over his injuries he’s not been able to train as we trained today.
‘He’s been training on his own because Manchester United played games but he’s been doing physical fitness work and today he’s involved in functional aspects of play.
‘I’ve not spoken to him since the session but I’m expecting everything to be fine. I don’t expect any repercussions. It looked to me that he worked quite hard.
‘Then it will be up to me and the coaches and the fitness people to make sure we give him the right amount of minutes in the game.
‘In my year-and-a-bit as England manager I’ve been faced many times when players are not in their club team but because they have talent and quality they are still managed to be selected.
‘I’m not prepared to make statements to say if he’s not playing for his club side he won’t be playing for England. While he’s fit and available he will always play for England because he is one of our best players.
England are set to play Scotland on Wednesday and it appears that Rooney could feature for Hodgson despite the transfer saga looming over his head.
Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
