4 Strikers That Will Be In Hodgson's Provisional England Squad (And 1 That Definitely Won't)

3. Wayne Rooney

Caps: 89 Goals: 40 Rooney is one of only a handful of Man Utd players to emerge from this season with their reputation intact. Seemingly headed for an Old Trafford exit last summer, the striker decided to pen a new contract with the Red Devils and rejuvenated his Utd career under Moyes' management. Whilst those around him have suffered, Rooney has demonstrated his incredible work ethic and battling qualities in the face of adversity. He is widely expected to take over the club captaincy this summer with the impending departure of Nemanja Vidic. However, there remains a nagging doubt that Rooney has never been able to come up with the goods for his country since his heroics at Euro 2004. As an 18 year old, he scored four goals in that tournament but has only scored once in major finals since then. There has been debate in recent weeks over whether Rooney is a world class player (Joey Barton certainly doesn't think so) but he is surely the closest England have to someone of that stature. Rooney is likely to be handed a starting berth in the No.10 role. He does not possess the pace to chase tirelessly upfront and his vision and range of passing is better suited to creating goals as well as scoring them. Despite the speculation surrounding his progress as a player in recent years, he remains a vital part of England's squad and is a dead cert to be named in the starting line up for the first group against Italy on 14 June.