Pressure builds on Eriksson to let Rooney play

By George Burns Jun 12, 2006, 13:42 GMT

Baden-Baden, Germany - Pressure is building on Sven-Goran Eriksson to allow Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney play some part in Thursday's World Cup match against Trinidad and Tobago.

Despite Rooney's club saying they don't believe Rooney will have any chance of playing in the group stages, England's abject attacking performance in Saturday's 1-0 defeat of Paraguay has led to calls for Eriksson to consider using the 20-year-old forward sooner rather than later.

If Rooney is to play, he will likely first have to have his fitness assessed by Professor Angus Wallace, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham and a former chairman of Britain's National Sports Medicine Institute.

Wallace has been chosen as the neutral medical expert in the ongoing battle between Eriksson and Manchester United over when the player is fit to return to duty.

Rooney trained with the rest of the England squad on Sunday.

Monday's session in Buehlertal was cancelled and neither Eriksson nor his players were available for comment. However, the BBC reported that it believes the Swede is considering using Rooney against Trinidad and Tobago.

Britain's Sun newspaper reported that Eriksson is 'ready to unleash Wayne Rooney from the bench' during the Group B date in Nuremberg, a decision that would certainly bring down the wrath of United manager Alex Ferguson.

Eriksson has stressed that the decision on whether Rooney should play was down to him and the player alone, although it has been expected that he wouldn't make an appearance until the knockout stages on June 24 or 25, if England make it out of the group.

Rooney returned to full training with England last Thursday, and team-mate Steven Gerrard has said that despite his injury his fitness levels are similar to the rest of the squad.