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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 Tonight’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 yesterday along with his England teammates 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.’
Meanwhile, Joe Hart is expecting a difficult night after Slovenia provided England’s toughest test of Euro 2016 qualification.
The Three Lions have won their 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Slovakia and at home to Malta, making them the early Group F leaders.
Gareth Southgate’s side continue their campaign in Slovenia today as the players resume battle with their most challenging opponents of an otherwise straightforward route to Euro 2016.
The 3-1 comeback win at Wembley and 3-2 triumph in Ljubljana last June were the only times Hart’s goal was breached during qualification, so England’s number one is expecting a similarly difficult evening.
‘It was probably our toughest two games of the group, especially at Wembley,’ the Torino goalkeeper said.
‘They took the lead and it took us a while to get back into it. It was one of those tough internationals.
‘I think we then played them in mid-June and Jack (Wilshere) had an amazing game and scored two fantastic goals.
‘We ended up really needing Wazza’s (Wayne Rooney) cool, calm head to stick the ball away.
‘It was a really good win for us and a really good game. We expect the same sort of game on Tuesday night.
‘I played against one of their players last Sunday for Fiorentina, Josip Ilicic. He is a strong player with a good left foot.
‘They have got some good players and they work well as a group.
“They have got a fantastic keeper so they are going to be good.— SportsMail
Online Reporter