England coach Sam Allardyce has hinted he regards Wayne Rooney as undroppable.

The Manchester United star opted for a deep midfield role against Slovakia despite Allardyce agreeing pre-match with Rooney's club boss, Jose Mourinho, that his best position remains in attack.

Allardyce said: “Mine and Wayne's relationship, as we grow, will always be to promote him as captain, but first and foremost to make sure he's playing his best football.

“I am using his experience to its maximum on the field as captain and football player - and encouraging him to play as a captain and play very, very well, which I thought he did.

“The performance he gave as a captain, and international player with great standing, was very good.

“Yes, he's not to forgotten that we want him to score goals. He says, 'You can play me anywhere you want me to play and I will try and play there'.

“He has had it at Manchester United, under many different managers, played down the right, the left, centre forward, in behind, centre midfield."