England captain Wayne Rooney is set to face the media ahead of Tuesday’s game against Slovenia on Tuesday, amid speculation he is to be dropped for the World Cup qualifier.
Rooney, 30, was jeered by small sections of the Wembley crowd in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Malta following a perceived drop in form.
Rooney, who operated in a deep midfield role once again, has already been dropped by Manchester United in recent weeks and could now be benched by interim Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate in Ljubljana.
Rooney will appear alongside Southgate on Monday evening in Ljubljana for the prematch news conference.
England’s all-time leading goal scorer has operated purely in a midfield capacity for his country in his last outings under Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce and Southgate, who have all selected him as their captain.
Rooney laughed and joked with the rest of the England squad as they trained at Tottenham Hotspur’s Enfield training base ahead of Monday’s flight to Slovenia.
Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs and Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also trained following their recent call-ups and there were no absentees from the session.
But all eyes were on Rooney after other England players professed to shock at the fact he was jeered by home fans in the win over Malta.
There were a smattering of boos when his name was read out ahead of kickoff and his afternoon was bookended by jeers as a wild shot in the closing stages was greeted by audible derision around Wembley.
Rooney’s wife, Coleen, took to Twitter on Monday to defend the United man amid the criticism he has received.
Love the way Anyone & Everyone has to have an Opinion. Lighten up, life is short, give people a break. Some forget others have feelings too.
— Coleen Rooney (@ColeenRoo) October 10, 2016
Questions remain over Rooney’s long-term future for club and country after United boss Jose Mourinho dropped his skipper to the bench after a 3-1 EFL Cup win at Northampton.
The Red Devils have since won two of their three fixtures with Rooney out of the team, including a 4-1 victory over reigning Premier League champions Leicester.
Now, he could find himself out of the national side with reports Southgate will instead hand the armband to either Gary Cahill or Jordan Henderson against Slovenia.
Rooney has won 117 England caps, a record for an outfield player, and announced ahead of Allardyce’s one and only game at the helm against Slovakia last month that he intends to retire from international football after the 2018 World Cup.
-espnfc