Rooney will be straight back, says McClaren

By Jonathan Wilson Sep 3, 2006, 23:51 GMT

Manchester - England manager Steve McClaren has confirmed that either Peter Crouch or Jermain Defoe will be dropped for Wayne Rooney, when the Manchester United forward returns from his international suspension.

Rooney is expected to be available for a Euro 2008 qualifier against Macedonia FYR next month at Old Trafford.

Rooney missed Saturday's 5-0 victory over Andorra and will not be available for the qualifier Wednesday at Macedonia as he serves a two-match ban, imposed by FIFA following his sending-off in the World Cup quarter-final for stamping on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho.

He was hardly missed Saturday, as Crouch and Defoe both scored twice.

'No player is undroppable,' McClaren said - a marked departure from the policy of his predecessor, Sven-Goran Eriksson, under whom certain players were almost guaranteed their places. 'But Wayne is special. I know where he will fit in.'

He gave no indication, though, as to whether it will be the lanky Liverpool target-man or the nippy Tottenham forward who will make way.

Crouch has scored 10 goals in his last nine international appearances, a record McClaren described as 'phenomenal' and had his clubmate Steven Gerrard claiming he should be focusing on breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time record of 49 goals for England.

'The key thing is that he's a team player,' McClaren said.

'When you look at the statistics, you see that he runs more than any other player in the team, and his touch with his back to goal lets the midfielders get into the game. The goals are coming now, and that's a matter of confidence. At the moment he always seems to be in the right place at the right time.'

Defoe missed out on the World Cup squad - controversially omitted in favour of the 17-year-old Arsenal striker Theo Walcott - and his goals Saturday were his first for England since his exquisite turn and shot against Poland two years ago in Chorzow.

McClaren admitted that with Defoe often a substitute for Spurs, he had considered bringing in Andy Johnson, who has started the season in fine form for Everton, before deciding to stick with the 23-year- old.

'He deserved it after his performance against Greece (last month),' McClaren said.

'But it wasn't a case of doing it just to build his confidence. He didn't get a goal in that game, but he worked hard and played well, and I'm delighted he got the goals in this game.'