Wayne Rooney will almost certainly play for England tomorrow, but will his dad's arrest affect his form?
I would be astonished if Wayne Rooney didn’t play for England tomorrow night following the arrest of his dad and other relatives this morning .
Rooney is used to playing against a backdrop of issues in his personal life and there is nothing to suggest that there will be anything different about the game her in Podgorica.
The bigger long-term issue for England is whether Rooney’s game begins to suffer at all because of these allegations.
The last time his personal life was splashed across the front pages and the lead item in sports bulletins, he became a shadow of the player that England and Manchester United fans know.
His form was a huge disappointment at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 as he and his family wrestled with the repercussions of a series of lurid stories.
But Rooney has recovered his form since then and re-emerged as England’s most effective player.
His name will be the first on Fabio Capello’s teamsheet for tomorrow night.
And given that he is older and wiser, it is unlikely that this latest set of accusations concerning his personal life will affect him on the pitch.
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