‘Rooney is England’s ace in the hole’

London: England manager Roy Hodgson believes when striker Wayne Rooney returns from his two-match suspension, he would be his team’s ace in the hole following their hard fought 1-1 draw with France on Monday in their opening match at the Euro Cup, which clearly portrayed the lack of attacking astuteness in the team.

Ashley Young is expected to continue as the man linking midfield with striker Danny Welbeck during their second match against Sweden on Friday in Kiev before shifting to his natural left position against Ukraine when Rooney returns. “Our real ace in the hole should be Wayne Rooney because he is very fit and raring to go,” a daily quoted Hodgson, as saying. “He really can’t wait to get on the field and if he can play like Wayne Rooney, then we’re going to be a bit more difficult to beat for some of these teams because you can only benefit from having someone of his quality in your team,” he added. Rooney’s return will be timely. For all Welbeck’s outstanding front running against France, England was short of some cunning and composure. When asked where England’s major problem exist in the match against France, Hodgson replied: “It’s in the final third. Once or twice, especially in the first half, there were some very promising counter-attacks and they broke down because we tried a one-touch pass to finish it off rather than taking that extra touch.” ANI