Rooney's positive vibe

Wayne Rooney has noticed a change in atmosphere in the England squad after making a welcome return for the Three Lions - and he believes that’s good news for our qualifying hopes.

Rooney missed last month’s two victories over Israel and Russia through injury but he watched them as a fan and cheered England on from the sidelines.

So it’s been exciting for the Manchester United man to return to the squad and find his teammates upbeat and confident.

“I’m delighted to be back after being out of the squad,” he said. "The atmosphere from when I was last in the squad is a lot different.

“I’ve noticed a change. It’s more relaxed around the hotel. We’ve had some good results over the last few games and I’m sure that has helped the atmosphere in the team and hopefully it will help us in the next matches.

“We’re confident and we’ve trained well and we’re looking forward to the games.

“I think if we can get three points on Saturday and then go to Russia and get a good result we’ll be happy.”

Rooney, who has recovered from another foot injury, admits he cheered his England team-mates in last month’s crucial qualifiers at Wembley and was delighted with what he saw.

He said: “Although I haven’t been involved for a while I’ve watched the games and I think they have done really well.

“I’m an England fan as well and if I’m not playing I want them to play as well as they can and get the best result. In the last two games I watched and they did that.

“It’s frustrating having to watch if you could be out there playing. But if you can’t play then you become a fan and that’s what I did. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep those performances going now.

“We know they are two big games for us and hopefully we can get the right results and be almost in the tournament.”