Alan Shearer believes Wayne Rooney was wasted in a deep-lying midfield role for England on Sunday.

The Manchester United star sat in a three-man midfield alongside Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson, and then Dele Alli, as the Three Lions eventually overcame Slovakia 1-0 in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier.

Shearer feels Rooney was too far away from goal, indicating that perhaps Sam Allardyce has to think about playing others in the role and pushing the skipper into a more advanced position.

Shearer wrote in The Sun: "This was not where we expected to see Wayne Rooney - but it's where he ended up.

"Indeed at times he was so deep that John Stones had the ball ahead of him.

"Against a Slovakia side who were there to sit deep and break, he needed to be further forward.

"Defences are quite happy to see Rooney deep. This is because he cannot hurt them when he is spraying balls about from midway inside his own half."