Rooney up and running

Wayne Rooney has taken the first steps down the long road to proving his fitness for the World Cup finals.

The Manchester United striker was spotted taking part in running, turning and ball work at Carrington ahead of England’s final training session before tomorrow’s clash with Jamaica at Old Trafford.

Rooney was accompanied in his workout by two members of United’s backroom staff and the session was halted once members of the media were allowed in to film the official training session.

The fact Rooney is able to undertake such exercises will be a boost to Sven-Goran Eriksson before he has another scan on June 7.

The 20-year-old has been sidelined since April 29, when he suffered a broken metatarsal injury to his right foot in United’s 3-0 defeat at Chelsea.

Rooney will fly out to Germany with the rest of the squad on Monday before returning to Manchester 48 hours later to undergo the scan which will probably determine if he is fit enough for the finals.

England coach Steve McClaren – who serves under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson this summer before taking full charge – declared it an encouraging sight to have Rooney back in light training.

“He has been working with the United physios all this week,” McClaren said on Sky Sports News. “He’s stepping things up, joining us on (the flight to Germany 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. Hopefully the scans will be okay but you’ve seen the progress he’s making. He’s a confident lad and he wants to be there and he’ll be doing everything possible to be there.”

While the news was encouraging about Rooney, the picture in the short term was less optimistic regarding full-back Gary Neville, although by no means is he doubtful for the World Cup.

Neville was absent from training for the second day running with the hamstring injury sustained during the 3-1 victory over Hungary at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

It is understood the injury needs a few more days to settle down and it will be a surprise if the 31-year-old is risked against the Jamaicans.

But there is no serious concern about Neville being unavailable for the opening World Cup game with Paraguay on June 10.