Rooney to miss England friendlies

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has confirmed captain Wayne Rooney will miss out on next month’s England friendly double-header as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Rooney, 30, was first expected to be ruled out until April after playing in the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland earlier this month when it was revealed he had damaged knee ligaments.

England travel to world champions Germany in a friendly on March 26 before they face Netherlands three days later at Wembley.

Any news of an early comeback was quashed on Sunday as Van Gaal told Daily Star Sunday: “No, he won’t be ready for England next month. He has to be ready for us — not for the English team.”

“He has a brace now and he has to wear it for two-and-a-half weeks and then we have to look again. So I cannot say anything about that now. For now, he is resting because of the brace.”

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