Rooney to remain England captain

Wayne Rooney is to continue as England captain for the foreseeable future but he is not guaranteed to start, new manager Gareth Southgate has revealed.

Having lost his place in the Manchester United starting XI, Rooney was dropped for England's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Slovenia in October but a return to form saw him reinstalled for last month's defeat of Scotland at Wembley.

However, just days later his conduct came under scrutiny when photographs emerged appearing to show him drunk at the team's hotel ahead of the friendly against Spain.

Despite the incident, Southgate has confirmed that Rooney will retain the armband.

"Wayne Rooney is the England captain. I have said that at the beginning of my interim period," Southgate told his first press conference since being appointed England manager.

"I have only selected him to start two out of the of four matches we have had. It is not a case that Wayne expects to play every game. It is important we develop more leaders in that group, give other opportunities to lead."

While several players are reported to have been out late with Rooney, the new England manager does not believe he needs to 'lay down the law'.

"Being an England player comes with additional responsibility. I don't think laying down the law is necessary with this group of players," he added.

"There has to be respect and treat them as adults and there has to be trust between coach and players. There has to be guidelines but players have to take leadership in that.

"You have to have an environment where you give people responsibility and you sometimes step back and learn a lot from those moments.

"Everything has to be geared towards being successful. If we think we're good enough to play the best teams in the world and give ourselves a slight handicap along the way then good luck with that.

"We have to make sure every opportunity to recover and perform at our very best is taken.

"I'm not disappointed because I think young people make decisions and I made plenty of poor decisions when I was a young player.

"But it's how you react to that, and how you learn from those moments that is important."

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