‘Hungry’ Rooney fit again after two goals for England

England striker Wayne Rooney is expected to be fit for Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales at Wembley. The news will send a shudder through the Welsh defence given than the Manchester United star is currently in the form of his life. Having scored five goals in three games for United, Rooney struck twice for England on Friday in their 3-0 defeat of Bulgaria.
 
The victory – and Wales' 2-1 defeat of Montenegro in their qualifier – extended England's lead at the top of Group G to three points. Victory over Wales on Tuesday in their penultimate group match will virtually ensure the Three Lions qualify for next summer's European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Rooney picked up a knock to his foot in the latter stages of the win but the 25-year-old said later that he should be all right for Wales. "I just landed a bit awkward on it, the physios took a look at it and it's fine," he said.

A feature of Friday's victory was the system used by coach Fabio Capello, a 4-2-3-1 formation with Rooney as the main striker and Ashley Young, Theo Walcott and Stewart Downing in supporting roles.

"I enjoyed playing in that system," said Rooney, who on Friday joined Michael Owen, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer in scoring 20 competitive goals for his country. "I'm enjoying my football and I've got a great hunger about me... I feel really good and hopefully I can continue to score goals."

The one sour note from Friday's game was the behaviour of a section of Bulgarian fans who taunted Ashley Young and Theo Walcott with racist abuse and were also seen making Nazi salutes. The Football Association has reported the incident to UEFA and a spokesman said: "UEFA are aware of the situation. We will study the reports, including the delegate's report, on Monday."

They might also investigate a banner unfurled by home supporters that read: "Fuck UEFA" – not the sort of thing they were hoping for in a match staged on one of their official Fair Play Days.

Asked if he'd heard the abuse, Arsenal winger Walcott replied: "I was aware. It was very clear. I ignored it, but that is me. I think the FA will deal with that."

Bulgarian coach Lothar Matthaus described the taunts as "pitiful" and added: "I would like to apologise on behalf of the Bulgarian Football Federation."

Meanwhile Capello has explained why he omitted veteran Frank Lampard from the XI that beat Bulgaria. "He's one of the best English midfielders but as the manager I need to choose the players and not the name," Capello said of his decision to start with Gareth Barry instead of Lampard.

"At this moment Barry is in really, really good form. At the start of the season Lampard needs to play more games. The first two games that he played [for Chelsea] were not good."

With Rio Ferdinand left out of the squad because of fitness concerns (his replacement Gary Cahill scored the opening goal against Bulgaria), the days of automatic selection for England's so-called 'golden generation' are at an end.

In the view of captain John Terry it's no bad thing that there is now real competition within the squad: "We all feel it. We are all here and wanting the same result," said Terry, who said of youngsters like Chris Smalling, Walcott and Tom Cleverley: "[They] have brought a lot of enthusiasm into the camp and they are a big part of England's future." ·