England boss Roy Hodgson says Wayne Rooney not guaranteed starting place
Friday 18 March 2016 09:00, UK
England boss Roy Hodgson says captain Wayne Rooney is not necessarily an automatic starter in this summer's European Championship.
Rooney, England's record goalscorer, has been out since February 13 with a knee ligament problem and although he was scheduled to return at the start of April, a setback then ruled him out for another month.
The forward is unavailable for the upcoming friendlies with Germany and the Netherlands, but England boss Hodgson is confident of being able to take him to France.
However, he warned the Manchester United striker that he cannot be certain of his place in the team.
"I'm confident he'll get fit and I won't have a situation where I have the dilemma of May 12 arriving and him not being 100 percent fit but knowing he could make it by the time the tournament starts," Hodgson said.
"[But] I've never said he's is an automatic starter. I've never said anyone is. Does he have a good chance with his track record, ability and experience? Of course he does.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean he will be in the line-up. He might not have recovered to the best of his ability, or we might want to use different players or play in a different way.
"If I think others are better or the right men to play in a particular way, he will accept that because he's a footballer, our leader and our captain. If he's fit, he'll go. But not as an automatic starter."
Hodgson has called up Premier League joint-top scorers Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane, the fit-again Daniel Sturridge, and Arsenal's Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck for friendlies against world champions Germany in Berlin on March 26 and the Netherlands at Wembley three days later.
