Slovenia vs England team news: Wayne Rooney dropped, Eric Dier starts with Jordan Henderson captain
Gareth Southgate has dropped his captain, as anticipated, and made one change in defence
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Wayne Rooney has been dropped for England's World Cup qualifier against Slovenia in Ljubljana.
Interim manager Gareth Southgate has chosen to leave his captain out of the starting line-up as anticipated, with Jordan Henderson taking the armband.
Rooney's demotion is one of two changes to the side which defeated minnows Malta at Wembley on Saturday.
Eric Dier replaces the Manchester United forward, while Danny Rose comes in for the injured Ryan Bertrand at left-back.
Southgate confirmed that Rooney would be among the substitutes on Monday, claiming that it was a tactical decision on his part to omit the 30-year-old.
He said: “It is very straightforward. We’ve looked at Slovenia, the way they play and the profile of midfield that we wanted to play, what was needed for this game.
“In no way is it a reflection on Wayne’s performance on Saturday. In fact, we were very pleased with what he did; we knew he would have a lot of the ball, he dictated the game, and played with great tactical discipline.
“Of course, it was not an easy decision to take because of the respect I have for him as a player, as a person and as a captain of this team. We felt it was the right decision to go with the team that we’re starting with.”
Line-ups
England: Hart, Walker, Stones, Cahill, Rose, Dier, Henderson, Walcott, Alli, Lingard, Sturridge.
Substitutes: Forster, Pickford, Gibbs, Antonio, Smalling, Keane, Vardy, Rashford, Townsend, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rooney.
Slovenia: Oblak, Struna, Samardzic, Cesar, Jokic, Krhin, Kurtic, Verbic, Birsa, Bezjak, Ilicic.
Substitutes: Skubic, Jovic, Crnic, Novakovic, Belec, Trajkovski, Koprivec, Mevlja, Kronaveter, Zajc, Pihler, Omladic.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments