England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of the Euro 2016 qualifier with Estonia on Friday after he missed training for a third consecutive day.

Captain crocked

The 29-year-old picked up a ankle complaint last weekend in United’s humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal which  has made him unable to train with his international teammates at St George’s Park for a third consecutive day.

Competition closing in

With the striker proving a major absentee for Roy Hodgson’s side, many players will be eager for the opportunity to impress having already secured qualification and with just around eight months to the tournament players will be looking to secure their place on the plane to France.

It looks increasingly likely that Arsenal forward, Theo Walcott, who impressed in the victory over Louis Van Gaal’s side will replace Rooney upfront on Friday night with Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy likely to be contention for a start at Wembley.

It also seems likely that Chelsea defender Gary Cahill will take the armband in the absence of Rooney.

Whitewash

Another major doubt for the match will be Liverpool striker Danny Ings who has been called up for the senior squad for the first time sat out of training with his own ankle problem.

Hodgson will be praying that the injury list will not increase before Friday evening as his Three Lions side bid to make it a perfect ten in qualifying. They have managed eight wins out eight so far and with victories on Friday and Monday, it will be perfect white wash.

Goal scoring heroics

Playing or not, Rooney will be ever-present on Friday as he will collect a commemorative gold boot for breaking the goal scoring record with his penalty in the 2-0 victory over Switzerland last month.

He will presented with accolade by the former record holder Sir Bobby Charlton who held the all-time record for 45 years.

England will host Estonia at Wembley Stadium on Friday, October 9 with kick-off at 7:45PM BST.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.