Wayne Rooney Is To Miss England Qualifiers

13 August 2007

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Manchester United striker Rooney will miss England's September Euro 2008 qualifiers after suffering a hairline fracture of his left foot on Sunday.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes Rooney will be out until October after the 21-year-old was injured in the Premier League opener with Reading.

That rules Rooney out of the key home matches against Israel on 8 September and then Russia four days later.

It could also leave a question mark over his participation in England's qualifiers against Estonia on 13 October and Russia on 17 October.

Rooney will also miss England's friendly against Germany at Wembley on 22 August.

It's devastating for England and Steve McClaren, if he is going to be out for that amount of time

His absence will be a concern for England coach Steve McClaren, whose side currently lie fourth in qualifying group E and face a struggle to qualify for Euro 2008.

They need to finish in the top two to clinch a place at the finals.

Rooney suffered his latest injury when Reading defender Michael Duberry accidentally stood on his foot towards the end of the first half of the match at Old Trafford.

Although United manager Ferguson initially played down the seriousness of the injury, a scan confirmed the fracture.

Dr Craig Panther, medical officer to Fulham and specialist sports doctor at Pure Sports Medicine, told BBC Sport that he was not surprised that Rooney was facing a recovery period of two months.

Rooney's injury adds to a host of injury concerns for England coach McClaren ahead of the vital qualifiers.

McClaren has a striker shortage, with Michael Owen also struggling with injury, while Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent were all on the bench for their respective clubs at the weekend.

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