England manager Roy Hodgson has insisted that he will continue to play Wayne Rooney as a striker.
The Three Lions captain has been forced to operate as a midfielder for Manchester United 12 times this season, but the national team coach is adamant that his best position is in attack.
"Wayne's a goalscorer isn't he? So one always likes to see ones goalscorers in positions where they can get into the box and in and around the box," the Daily Mail quotes Hodgson as saying.
"If you've got several other goalscorers and you can afford to use one of your goalscorers a bit further back, that's fine.
"But he's our top goalscorer in the qualifiers, he's just a couple of goals away now from being England's leading goalscorer, so I hope he will continue to score goals for us."
Rooney is four goals away from becoming England's all-time top goalscorer, a record that Sir Bobby Charlton holds with 49.
Mark Langshaw
