Slaven Bilic fears return of ‘England’s best’ Wayne Rooney

Slaven Bilic is hoping Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney does not make his long-awaited comeback against West Ham tonight after labelling the striker the best England player of his era.

Rooney, 30, is in contention to play some part of United’s FA Cup quarter-final replay against the Hammers at Upton Park, having played an hour for the Under-21 side on Monday.

The United and England skipper has been missing with a knee injury since a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland on February 13 but manager Louis van Gaal hinted he could be involved in the cup tie.