Wayne Rooney still fears for his England place despite becoming country's leading scorer

Wayne Rooney still fears that Roy Hodgson will drop him even though he is captain

WAYNE ROONEY still fears for his England place - despite becoming the country's record goalscorer.

 

Rooney, in winning his 107th cap for England on Tuesday, created history at Wembley when he scored his 50th goal for his country, bypassing Sir Bobby Charlton's 45 year old record.

But Rooney, who will captain England into the 2016 European Championships final in France next summer after a flawless qualifying campaign, which has seen him now score in England's last seven competitive games - another record - is amazingly still not sure of his place in Roy Hodgson's team.

 

Rooney, 29, said: "You have to fear for your place. I train every day as if my place is on the line and I have always done that throughout my career. When you get older and have played a lot of games, you become more aware of that.

"I just have to keep playing. There are a lot of young lads in this team and I don't want to give my place up. I want to play.

 

England's Wayne Rooney celebrates his 50th international goal during the UEFA European Qualifying match at Wembley Stadium

 

"I come and work harder every time and I want to make it hard for the manager to leave me out over the next couple of years."

Tottenham's Harry Kane is the young challenger at the moment, with three goals in his four England appearances so far at the age of 22.

England manager Roy Hodgson presented his captain with a special England shirt with "Rooney 50" on the back in the dressing room to mark his achievement in before the striker made an emotional speech thanking his family friend and the England staff and laying down a challenge to the younger players to catch his goalscoring record.

 

Rooney said: "I had loads of messages. I had one off Sir Bobby which was good, saying 'you played well, congratulations'. That means a lot for me - to break his record and for him to get in touch straight away. I'm grateful for that.

"That was one of the first ones. Obviously family and friends. I'm grateful for the help I've had over the years. "Certainly with my family and friends it was a huge night for me. It was just a special moment, something I'm extremely proud to have the opportunity to do and now to do it. I was a bit emotional. I'm not really an emotional person but I was a bit overwhelmed.

"I was very nervous. I needed time to compose myself and knew which corner I was going. I just thought 'put your boot through the ball and if the keeper stops it it'll have to be a great save'. Thankfully the power took it in."

Rooney will return to club action for Manchester United against Liverpool on Saturday, looking to put right a record of no goals in his last 10 league games.