Former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister believes the England national team will miss Wayne Rooney at next summer's European Championships.
The ex-central defender, who won 22 caps for the Three Lions, feels Rooney's absence from the group stage through suspension will hinder the team and also feels that England's performance at the tournament will determine whether or not Fabio Capello's tenure has been a success.
"The European Championships will tell us a lot about Fabio Capello and his style of management in his time in England," Pallister told the Press Association. "I think the jury's still out.
"We're still a work in progress at the moment with Capello and this England team; it's also a bit of a spanner thrown in the works with Wayne Rooney being suspended.
"That's a huge loss so it's how we adapt to that and at this moment in time, I don't think he knows what his strongest side is or how he wants to play.
"If I was a betting man at the moment, I certainly wouldn't put us down as one of the favourites but there's still quite a bit of time to go before we play in the European Championships and we've certainly got players who are capable of doing well there.
"It's how we harness that talent I think and get the best out of the England players that we've got."
