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England sweating on Rooney fitness

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MANCHESTER, England -- England are sweating on Wayne Rooney's fitness for their friendly against Spain on Wednesday and have already lost fellow striker Andy Johnson and defender Wayne Bridge.

Rooney, who suffered a knock on club duty with Manchester United in Sunday's 4-0 Premier League win at Tottenham Hotspur, had treatment on Monday and would be reassessed on Tuesday, an FA spokesman said.

No details were given on the injury, which led to him being replaced by French striker Louis Saha in the second half at White Hart Lane. Media reports said it was a back problem.

Doubts about his fitness follow a series of blows for England manager Steve McClaren, who lost Johnson to an ankle injury and then Bridge to a thigh injury later in the day.

Goalkeeper Chris Kirkland then withdrew from the squad due to a shoulder injury, leaving only fellow keeper Ben Foster as a reserve for first-choice Paul Robinson.

Bridge, who picked up a knock during England training on Monday at United's Carrington complex, had a scan on the injury and has returned to Chelsea, the FA spokesman said.

Bridge's absence will be a real blow as he was due to replace injured club mate and England first-choice Ashley Cole at left back on Wednesday.

With the understudy now out as well, McClaren will have to look at using a utility player such as Jamie Carragher, Phil Neville or Gareth Barry as a replacement.

Though cleared by United to join up, Rooney may not feature in Wednesday's game, a warm-up designed to prepare England for their Euro 2008 double-header qualifiers in March against Israel and Andorra in Group E.

Among those certain not to feature is Everton's Johnson. An FA spokesman confirmed he had withdrawn from the squad and said no one would be called up to replace him.

Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves and fellow midfielder Jermaine Jenas of Spurs, who has an ankle injury, are other non-starters.

Hargreaves returned from a broken leg in Friday's Bundesliga defeat to Nuremberg and said: "I spoke to England manager Steve McClaren on Saturday.

"He asked how the game was. I told him it was good but I was physically a bit tired and sore. That's why I'm not going to play against Spain.

"I just returned on Friday and to play again on Wednesday would be too much."

He added on the Bayern Web site: "I just want to show my face and take part in one or two training sessions."

Enthusiastic

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard is enthusiastic about captaining England in the match in the absence of John Terry, who has only just recovered from injury.

Gerrard said: "It will mean an awful lot to me. To walk out at the front and lead the boys out into battle will be extra-special."

Vice-captain Gerrard, who last captained England three years ago, will turn to Terry for help and advice ahead of the game

Gerrard said: "He's experienced it a lot more times than me. It's great to have John about."

Gerrard added: "Every game for England is a must-win game and our next qualifier against Israel is definitely in that bracket.

"We have got to show the fans and country on Wednesday that we really want to top our group, so it is important to get a good win and a decent performance against Spain.

"England versus Spain is definitely a massive game from my point of view because I have a lot of Spanish team-mates at Liverpool and I don't want to return to my club on Thursday having just been beaten by them!

"When we last played Spain a couple of years ago, they gave us a lesson how to play because they were very good technically.

"Recent results haven't been what we would have liked, so the challenge ahead of us is to put that right."


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Rooney was injured during United's 4-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday.

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