Henderson to lead in Rooney’s absence

london — England captain Wayne Rooney will not start the friendly against Spain after missing training on Monday, manager Gareth Southgate said.

Rooney sat out the session due to minor issues and Southgate confirmed that Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson will lead the team against the 2010 world champions at Wembley on Tuesday.

“I wouldn’t start Wayne in this game anyway. Jordan Henderson will be captain,” Southgate told a news conference.

“The key for me is I believe we have several leaders and I don’t think we can have just one captain,” he added.

“Too much responsibility has been on Wayne, we need to share that. Once you have a team of those leaders you can have a lot of success.”

Southampton left back Ryan Bertrand also missed training on Monday and with only 19 outfield players available, 17-year-old Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dylan Duncan was invited to join in.

England defeated bitter rivals Scotland 3-0 in a World Cup Group F qualifier on Friday while Spain crushed Macedonia

Too much responsibility has been on Wayne, we need to share that Gareth Southgate

4-0 in Group G on Saturday.

Tuesday’s game will be the last of Southgate’s four-match audition as England interim manager.

He faces a man he aspires to emulate in terms of style and status in Tuesday’s friendly against Julen Lopetegui’s Spain.

Like Southgate, Lopetegui earned the faith of his country’s football association by excelling as under-21s coach, while Spain’s confident passing game is something Southgate wants England to replicate. “It’s one of the biggest challenges that we can face,” Southgate said ahead of the encounter.

“It looks as though they’ll have a couple of players missing, but they have strength in depth and a clear identity of how they play through all of their age groups.

“Obviously Julen has been the under-21 manager so he knows how the system is there.” —