Moyes plays down talk of Rooney rift

11 August 2013 01:46

Manchester United manager David Moyes has dismissed the suggestion he is unhappy at losing Wayne Rooney to England duty.

Having failed to make any appearances during pre-season, unsettled striker Rooney will also be absent when United take on Wigan in the Community Shield.

But the minor shoulder injury that prevented Rooney from travelling to Sweden last week has not stopped him from being called up by Roy Hodgson for England's friendly with Scotland on Wednesday.

And a pointed statement from Rooney on his official Facebook page on Friday night, which thanked Hodgson for the faith he had shown in him while omitting any mention of Moyes or United, was taken as further proof that all is not well.

However, while the position is far from ideal given Rooney's desire to leave and his time spent training with the reserves this week, Moyes has indicated the rift is not quite as bad as some have claimed.

"I had a long conversation with Roy about it last week," Moyes told MUTV.

"Wayne has had a shoulder injury. He has been sore with it, which has meant he has not been able to have any contact, so he hasn't trained with us [the first team].

"He has trained a little bit with the reserves as a non-contact player, a floating player, so at least he got a little bit of football work.

"He trained with the first team today [Saturday] and he did a bit of extra work, so he is probably more likely to be ready for England than he will be for us.

"You've got to remember he has had no football practice.

Source: PA