Hodgson: Rooney is fit to play

Roy Hodgson has insisted that Wayne Rooney is fit to play for England despite his omission from Manchester United’s Community Shield win.

Rooney was not included in the squad for United’s 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at Wembley on Sunday, but is expected to feature for Hodgson’s side when they take on Scotland at the national stadium on Wednesday.

United manager David Moyes had previously stated that Rooney – who has been the subject of two transfer offers from Chelsea – has been struggling with a shoulder injury.

But Hodgson did not see any evidence of an injury during Monday’s training session.

“Rooney looked good, as I expected,” Hodgson said.

“There was no doubt in my mind in the session that he was not still suffering from a physical injury.”

Hodgson is hopeful that Rooney’s status at United will be resolved in the near future, and stressed that the 27-year-old will always be in the running for England.

“It would be very nice if that happens both for him and his club,” he added.

“But I’ve been faced many, many times with a situation where players are not necessarily in their team, he will always be considered for England while he is physically fit, because he’s one of our best players.”

The game marks the first time England have faced traditional rivals Scotland in 14 years, with the last meeting coming in a UEFA European Championship play-off match in 1999.

Scotland won 1-0 at Wembley on that occasion – although England progressed to the finals 2-1 on aggregate – but Hodgson is unconcerned by the history of the fixture.

“What will interest me more than rivalry is our performance,” he added.

“I am very interested to see what sort of performance we can give against a tough opponent, as we have some very, very tough games coming up.

“This will be, if you like, a litmus paper of how we are going to go.”