The big news: Rooney still influential, says Southgate

England interim manager Gareth Southgate backed captain Wayne Rooney as "hugely influential", despite the striker's poor form for club and country. Rooney missed Manchester United's 4-0 defeat by Chelsea on Sunday through injury. He was a substitute for the previous three Premier League games and has scored only once this season.

Southgate, who dropped Rooney for England's clash with Slovenia this month, said his leadership was impressive. "He's the England captain and, although, he didn't start in Slovenia, to me he is a hugely influential figure in that group and that won't change," said Southgate. "I thought his leadership qualities in the 10 days with us shone through. I could see how he's held in the eyes of the rest of the players and the positive influence he has in that environment."

Southgate's four-game spell in charge of England ends with a World Cup 2018 qualifier against Scotland on November 11 and a friendly against Spain on November 15. "Let's see what that scenario is," Southgate said of the role Rooney would be likely to play. "I haven't spoken to him since the camp but I'm always conscious players are back into a run of fixtures with their clubs. I will pick up with him and the others later."

Other top stories

  1. Arsenal and Liverpool registered easy wins in their League Cup clashes and entered the quarter-finals on Tuesday. Arsenal beat Reading 2-0 with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring a brace, while Liverpool got past Tottenham 2-1, with Daniel Sturridge also scoring a brace.
  2. Manchester United defender Eric Bailly will be out of action for nearly two months after suffering a knee injury. The Ivory Coast defender was injured during his side’s clash with 0-4 defeat at Chelsea on Sunday. "I hope to be able to play again for United and The Elephants before two months," Bailly said on social media.
  3. Premier League side Watford are being investigated by the Football League for allegedly supplying false financial information. The Telegraph newspaper claims to have obtained a forged bank letter submitted when Gino Pozzo became the Hornets owner before the 2014-'15 campaign. Watford won Premier League promotion that season, and could have points deducted or be fined if they are found guilty.
  4. In a big blow to Hull City, Robert Snodgrass has been ruled out for almost four weeks with an ankle injury. The 29-year-old suffered the injury during his side's 2-0 defeat by Stoke City on Saturday. Snodgrass, who is the club's top scorer with four goals this season, could miss five games for his side, who are in the relegation zone.
  5. Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer said that Manchester United should take Bastian Schweinsteiger’s help to lift them out of their drop in form. Schweinsteiger has not been considered by José Mourinho this season, but the Bayern Munich goalkeeper said the former Germany captain is the man United need. “I really hope Bastian gets some consideration soon,” Neuer said. “We all know he’s one of the best midfielders in the world. He belongs on the field for Manchester United and not training individually.”
  6. Brazilian legend Carlos Alberto, who captained the team that won the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, died at the age of 72 in Rio de Janeiro after a heart attack on Tuesday. Alberto capped 53 times for Brazil and was named in the world team of the 20th century in 1998 and was also included in the Fifa 100 for the greatest living players in 2004.
  7. Mumbai City FC beat Atletico de Kolkata 1-0 at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, and climbed to the top of the Indian Super League table. Diego Forlan scored the winner in a rather dull match, which had Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry in attendance. This was Kolkata’s first defeat in ISL this season.
  8. Bayern Munich boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted he built his Real Madrid side around Cristiano Ronaldo. "At Real Madrid, Ronaldo was the most important player and I had to listen where he preferred to play and after that try to adapt," he told The Daily Mail. The Italian also admitted he would consider taking up the England job.
  9. The dates for next year's Fifa Under-17 World Cup to be held in India have been announced. The tournament will be played from October 6–28 and the draw for the tournament will be held on July 7, 2017. Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium was also confirmed as one of the venues for the U-17 World Cup. Kolkata thus became the sixth Indian city that will host matches of the tournament. The other five are Guwahati, Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa and New Delhi.
  10. Barcelona were beaten by local rivals Espanyol 1-0 in the in the Catalan Super Cup on Wednesday. Felipe Caicedo scored the winner 10 minutes into the game owing to an error from Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu. Barcelona were playing without their star trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.