Axed Wayne Rooney to face media ahead of England-Slovenia World Cup Qualifier

By Jefferson Lake

England captain Wayne Rooney is expected to be named on the bench by Gareth Southgate for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier with Slovenia.

Wayne Rooney will line up for England's press conference alongside his manager on Monday evening after being dropped for the World Cup Qualifier in Slovenia.

Sky sources understand the team captain and country's leading goalscorer will be on the substitutes' bench with interim boss Gareth Southgate likely to name Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson as his two deep-lying central midfielders.

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The 30-year-old Manchester United forward will face the world's media ahead of Tuesday's match in Ljubljana and fans will be able to hear the skipper's reaction to his omission live on Sky Sports News HQ from 6.30pm.

It is understood Southgate was waiting to see if Dier and Henderson made it through a session at Tottenham's training ground in Enfield on Monday morning before deciding on his team selection.

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England beat Malta 2-0 in Southgate's first game in charge on Saturday but Rooney was booed by some sections of the Wembley crowd and Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith questioned whether the national side's record goalscorer would keep his place for the Slovenia game.

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Southgate, however, felt the criticism of Rooney was unjust and backed him to continue to play with pride for his country.

Former Scotland international Paul Lambert tells Sky Sports News that Wayne Rooney would be 'put on a pedestal' for his achievements in other countries

"The criticism of him is at times unfair," he said. "He ploughs on and plays with pride and captains his country with pride.

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"I look back to John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. In their time with England they took an enormous amount of criticism and yet when you look at the number of caps they got they were the guys that kept turning out.

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"They were the ones that really put themselves on the line when some other players would not put themselves forward in those moments and withdrew from squads when the going got tough."

As well as Rooney discussing the latest news, Southgate is expected to confirm details of who will captain England in the pre-match news conference, live on Sky Sports News HQ from 6.30pm, and on our live blog, online and on your mobile phone.

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