Wayne Rooney: I don’t expect to start for England

The Manchester United striker says
he works hard to try and get into
Roy Hodgson's starting lineup and
that he will always respect his
manager's team selection.

Wayne Rooney says he does not
takes his place in the England
team for granted and has never
expected to start every match for
the Three Lions.
The Manchester United man has
yet to score a World Cup goal and
was forced to play wide on the left
against Italy, with Raheem Sterling
preferred in the No. 10 role.
There have been calls for Roy
Hodgson to drop Rooney for
England’s next clash against
Uruguay on Thursday and the
striker says he is not certain of his
place in the side.
“I’ve never felt that. I don’t know
why you said that. Why would I
feel my place in the team is
guaranteed?” he told reporters. “I
work hard to try and get into that
team. I have never said my place
is guaranteed. I don’t expect to
play, I work hard. I want to play.
“We have got a lot of good, young
players so we will all work hard, all
give the manager different options,
different choices and whoever he
picks, then I am sure we will all
respect that.”
Rooney also insisted he was back
to full fitness after recovering from
a groin problem and said the heat
in Brazil had not affected him.
“I know I have run a lot in games
and I have no problem doing that.
I felt no problems at all,” he
added. “To be honest, I can only
speak on behalf of myself, I felt
absolutely fine. The weather was
not an issue, so that’s down to the
manager [selection on Thursday].
“Obviously he will see over the
next couple of days how the lads
are and how they recover and will
make his decision from there.”