Wayne Rooney has been dropped from England’s starting XI for the World Cup qualifying clash with Slovenia.
Gareth Southgate has dropped his captain from the starting line-up after giving serious consideration to what is the biggest decision of his short managerial reign.
Rooney and the rest of the Three Lions squad trained at Tottenham’s Enfield training centre ahead of Tuesday’s clash in Ljubljana as they look to maintain their 100 per cent win record in Group F.
The skipper, who was booed by sections of the Wembley crowd during Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Malta, was put through his paces on Monday along with his England team-mates but will have to settle for a place on the bench.
Southgate had insisted he would not be afraid to axe Rooney and, with Eric Dier, arguably England’s best player during the sorry Euro 2016 campaign, pushing for a recall to the team, the England boss has made a decision on his midfield options — which sees Rooney miss out.
Southgate has been adamant he is strong enough to leave Rooney on the bench if needed, saying he made far harder decisions during his managerial career.
‘The biggest decision of my career? Making some really close friends redundant — that’s probably as big as you can get,’ said Southgate, referring to his spell as Middlesbrough boss.
‘I’ve got to make decisions which are right for the team. Whenever you select a team with England, you’re going to leave some guys on the bench who are playing every week in the Premier League for their clubs.
‘You have to be prepared to do that, that’s part and parcel of the job.’
As captain, Rooney will still take part in the pre-match press conference despite not starting the game.
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