Rooney has confided in me - Gerrard

England captain Steven Gerrard has
revealed that Wayne Rooney has confided
in him about his uncertain future at
Manchester United, but said the striker is
itching to start Wednesday's friendly
against Scotland.
The Liverpool midfielder, speaking ahead of
the first meeting between the nations since
1999 at Wembley, said that while Rooney was
not fully fit, he had impressed the rest of the
squad in training.
"He is certainly not match fit," said Gerrard.
"But it is the same old Wayne Rooney in
training; he looks good, scoring goals. He is
certainly ready to play. He needs these minutes
for his confidence and I am sure he will be
itching to start."
Rooney, 27, has been linked with a move away
from Manchester United and Gerrard said he
had spoken to the former Everton striker about
his situation during the build-up to the match
at Wembley.
While he would not reveal details of the
conversation, Gerrard did stress the
importance of Rooney to England's cause.
"It wouldn't be fair on Wayne for me to talk
about that conversation, but of course I am
close to him," said the midfielder.
"But for me it is all about how Wayne is
feeling for tomorrow's game, and I am sure he
will sort the other stuff out."
Rooney's position at Old Trafford has been a
source of uncertainty since it emerged he had
told Sir Alex Ferguson of his desire to leave
United in May, following a season in which he
played second fiddle to Robin Van Persie.
Chelsea have had two bids - the last of around
£25m - rejected by United, and the Premier
League champions have now resolved to reject
all further offers from Chelsea on a point of
principle.
The United hierarchy are understood to view
the potential sale of Rooney as a sign of
weakness and they are determined not to
simply cave in to player power.
That hardline stance would appear to leave
Rooney facing the probability of seeing out his
contract at Old Trafford, even if he remains
intent on leaving the club.
Gerrard, 33, said the match against Scotland,
whom he described as "local rivals", was one
players on both sides were relishing and the
captain insisted neither side would be holding
back.
When asked if Liverpool manager Brendan
Rodgers had limited his involvement in the
match, Gerrard said: "I am sure [manager] Roy
Hodgson has had a call from every Premier
League manager asking for us to play as few
minutes as possible or wanting us to come
back fully fit.
"But the Premier League managers have got to
understand we're here representing our
country, it's a big game, and we all want to
play as many minutes as possible.
"There'll be no holding back because it's a big
game and we want to win."
Wednesday's match comes just days before the
start of the new Premier League season, and
Gerrard, who is set to win his 103rd cap, views
the contest as one England need to win in
order to build momentum ahead of vital World
Cup qualifiers with Moldova and Ukraine next
month.
"It's a World Cup year and we've got four very
important World Cup qualifiers not too far
away," said Gerrard.
"But this is a big game - it's going off with a
bang. All the players are excited and looking
forward to an exciting year.
"We're expecting a quick start and a high-
tempo game. They're going to be well up for
the game. They want to beat England, we want
to beat Scotland.
"We play against these guys week in, week out,
so it's a good test for us. Going into the
important games in a couple of weeks' time
it's important we go in feeling confident and
on the back of a good performance."

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