Rooney hits comeback trail

MANCHESTER: England's hopes of having Wayne Rooney fit for the World Cup received a boost on Friday when the forward underwent his most vigorous training session since he broke a bone in his foot at the end of April.   

Rooney, 20, could be seen running, turning and doing some ball work at Manchester United's Carrington training complex on the outskirts of Manchester, five days before he undergoes a scan on his injured right foot which will determine whether he plays in Germany.

England's most important player has been out of action since April 29, when he suffered a broken metatarsal bone in his right foot in United's 3-0 defeat at Chelsea.

Although he will fly to Germany with his international team-mates on Monday, Rooney is due back in Manchester two days later for a scan to assess whether the bone has healed sufficiently to give him a realistic chance of playing in the later stages of the tournament. If the results are negative, Rooney will be replaced in the squad, most probably by Jermain Defoe.

England coach Steve McClaren, who will take over as head coach from Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup, said he was delighted to see Rooney apparently progressing so well.

"He has been working with the United’s physios all this week," McClaren told Sky Sports News.

"He's stepping things up, joining us on Monday and having the relevant scans, so things are progressing well. Of course, you never take things for granted in football and with the metatarsal especially.