Monday 14 November 2016 21:10, UK
Jordan Henderson will captain England against Spain on Tuesday in the absence of Wayne Rooney, who will not start the match and will have his fitness assessed, interim manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed.
Rooney played the full 90 minutes in England's 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Scotland on Friday, but missed training on Monday, along with left-back Ryan Bertrand, because of a "minor issue".
Southgate, who will complete his four-match spell as England's interim manager against Spain, confirmed Rooney would not have started the game, even if fully fit, with Liverpool skipper Henderson taking the armband.
"I wouldn't have started Wayne in this game anyway, so we'll decide on which route we are going to take, but I would not be looking to start Wayne in this game," Southgate said.
"Jordan Henderson will be the captain and the key for me in that is I believe we've got several leaders, one sitting next to me [Joe Hart], who has shown a great maturity since I've been in the role and I don't think we can have just one captain.
"I think at times, and I have said this already, too much of that responsibility is laid with Wayne. We need to share that, there are leaders already here and there are other potential leaders, who I think can step forward. Once you have a team full of those leaders, we'll have a lot of success."
Southgate has guided England to two wins and a draw since assuming interim control following the departure of Sam Allardyce in September.
The 46-year-old, who refused to confirm whether he wanted the job on a long-term basis despite being the favourite for the post, called on the Football Association to take its time before making a decision on a long-term successor.
"From my point of view, I will get on with what I am told to do, but it would be helpful to know in which office and in which programme of work," he said.
"Whatever happens in my situation, I wanted the players to have an experience that was both enjoyable, but challenging.
"We had a priority to be top of the group, we wanted to build on the performances that we had in October and then everybody has time to reflect, most importantly the FA.
"There was a short-term need for somebody to step in and take that role, whatever happens now will be a process that will be followed.
"I think it's right for everybody to reflect, if you're appointing a manager at any football club, I think you should take your time and see if that person fits with the philosophy of what you want to do.
"You should speak to everybody that you want to speak to because who knows, somebody might emerge that you don't know a lot about.
"Obviously there was a bit of a disadvantage to having games because everybody is assessing what you are doing in those matches, and nobody else is being judged on taking the team. But there's an advantage, from my point of view, in preparing for the matches we had."
