England

Gareth Southgate: 'Wayne Rooney omitted due to good form of other players'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 25 May 2017

Southgate defends Rooney England omission

Gareth Southgate defends his decision to leave Wayne Rooney out of the England squad, which he claims is due to the "good form" of other players.

Gareth Southgate has revealed that his decision to leave Wayne Rooney out of the England squad is due to the "good form" of other players.

The Three Lions' all-time leading goalscorer, who has 119 caps, has been overlooked for June's matches against Scotland and France.

Southgate, who also omitted Rooney from the England squad in March, told BBC Sport: "We've a lot of players playing exceptionally well in the area of the pitch that Wayne plays.

"I said last time that he was a bit short of matches - he's had some matches now but we've got players that have done really, really well for us in Adam Lallana and Dele Alli.

"We've got Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane coming back and Jermain Defoe who did really well for us last time, while Jamie Vardy's been in excellent form in the second half of the season.

"I can't dress it up any other way. Other players are in really good form and deserve to keep their place."

England travel to Hampden Park on June 10 for their qualifier against Scotland before heading to France for a friendly against Les Bleus on June 13.