England great Gary Lineker thinks that Everton star Wayne Rooney is 'under-appreciated' in footballing circles.

Lineker claims that Rooney is among the top ten players to ever represent Britain and his contributions for Manchester United speak for themselves.

He said: "He's been a great player for English football.

"He'd be (one of Britain's) top 10 (ever). He's had a marvellous career. He's been slightly unfortunate that he's been our only world-class player for quite a while after the Golden Generation disappeared.

"We went through a time of being bereft of world-class talent: it was just him. He's gone to play in tournaments, sometimes not fully fit, sometimes fit, in a team that's not really good enough, and he's suffered a little bit from that.

"He probably is (under-appreciated). Those of us who remember his early career when he was phenomenal: well, he did it (at Euro 2004) in Portugal. When he got injured: we might have gone on to win that one if he hadn't, we were looking so good.

"He's not played in terribly strong England sides subsequently. But he's scored more goals than anyone else for England, anyone else for Manchester United, and that in itself is a phenomenal achievement."