Southgate looking for England's leaders with Rooney out

Gareth Southgate has told Wayne Rooney the England captaincy is no longer his by right and he must first prove himself worthy of a place in the squad.

Rooney was left out of a much-changed squad to face Germany and Lithuania, with Southgate harbouring doubts about his lack of game time for Manchester United, having started just once in the Premier League in 2017.

He has also been battling a knee injury but could yet feature for United at the weekend only to sit out the international break.

It is the latest example of the 31-year-old's once untouchable status being redefined under Southgate, who dropped the nation's record goalscorer against Slovenia while still interim boss.

Although Southgate has spoken repeatedly about his respect for Rooney's leadership qualities - honed over the past two and a half years - he will no longer guarantee him the role of skipper. Instead, he seems to favour a shift away from the notion of a permanent England captain entirely.

"We have this thing about 'an England captain', but really the captain is the person that is captain in the next game, isn't it?" he said.

"I've talked with Wayne and I think there's a chance he's fit for the weekend but the injury, coupled with the fact he's not had a lot of game time recently and others have, determined my decision.

"Always the danger in any sport with naming a 'captain' is selection. Always there is a danger with form or anything else that it becomes a matter of debate.

"We have to look at Wayne as a number 10, which is his predominant role. In the last two games we've played Dele (Alli) there and we've played Adam Lallana there.

"Both are playing very well, scoring and assisting for their clubs. Ross Barkley has been playing very well for his club.

"So there's competition. I can't dress that up any other way. There are some very good players and it's a battle to get in this squad.

"Wayne totally understands that. He's the most realistic senior player I think I've dealt with in terms of how he views the game. He doesn't have any expectations of being treated differently or treated in a special way.

"I always just assume you pick a team for a game and the captain of that game is the captain. I think that's why you need a leadership group," he said.