'England can succeed without Rooney'

Updated 15.06 Wed Aug 15 2007

Keywords: germany, manchester united, wayne rooney, england, steve mcclaren, euro 2008, football, sport, david beckham

Steve McClaren has backed his England team to succeed without Wayne Rooney.

The Manchester United striker has suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot, ruling him out of action for two months.

"It is a blow because he was looking so fit and well in pre-season" - Steve McClaren

But McClaren is convinced England can win their Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia while Rooney is on the sidelines.

McClaren said: "It is a blow because he was looking so fit and well in pre-season and in the games so far.

"I was disappointed to get the phone call on Sunday night but we have to move on.

"We have had a positive summer against Albania, Brazil and Estonia where we gave fringe players a game and we did that without Rooney, so we have done that before and we will do that again."

McClaren has confirmed David Beckham will be called into the squad for next week's friendly against Germany despite his ankle problems since joining LA Galaxy.

He added: "It is a case of David Beckham getting the motivation back and wanting to play football for England.

"I spoke to him last week and he is desperate to play for England again and help us qualify for next summer's tournament so it is just a case of getting him fit, playing and keeping the motivation he has got."