Rooney Insists Goal Drought is No Problem

Wayne Rooney did almost lose his cool here but, thankfully for Fabio Capello and England, it was not in the wake of a crunching tackle from Oscar Sonejee or Ildefons Lima. Instead, the striker's flicker of real anger came when it was put to him that his international goals had rather dried up in recent times.

"I've no problem with it," offered Rooney, his jaw tensing up as he answered. By the time the natural follow-up query - "So it's not on your mind at all?" - had been lodged he had turned away from the questioner and, with eye contact long gone, merely muttered a "no" through gritted teeth. His body language rather contradicted his insistence that, in actual fact, all is well in Wayne's world.

Rooney was busy enough against massed markers on Saturday, volleying his best opportunity disappointingly over the bar but providing the cute reverse pass that presented Joe Cole with his second goal before the hour mark. The pity was that the Manchester United striker could not register his own reward. Of his 14 international goals, only five have come since he really burst on to the scene so impressively at Euro 2004.

More damning is the reality that there have been only two competitive goals in the four years since - a cold hard fact that blatantly illustrates the current frustrations for the 22-year-old. "Wayne needs a goal and it would be nice to see him score," conceded Frank Lampard. "I think it would do him good, obviously, but there's a lot more to his game than just scoring goals. He's a creator. He wants goals for his confidence and, just when you need one in an important situation, he'll get it."

That occasion may well come on Wednesday. Croatia have witnessed the best and worst of Rooney on the biggest stage. It was against the Vatreni in Lisbon that he ran riot at Euro 2004, propelling England out of the group stage of the tournament and into an ill-fated quarter-final against Portugal. The flipside came in October 2007, however, as he flicked a V-sign at traveling supporters after Steve McClaren's side had subsided 2-0 in Zagreb.

The forward appeared more comfortable with Emile Heskey's bustling presence alongside him in the second period against Andorra, with that partnership likely to be retained in the Maksimir Stadium. There, too, England should benefit from Joe Cole's trickery from the outset. "He's the kind of player you want in your team if you need to nick a goal," said Lampard of his Chelsea team-mate, though they will also need Rooney to make his presence felt in the opponents' penalty area if they are to become the first side to win a qualifier in Croatia since 1994.

"This is a new campaign, a new start, and hopefully we can do well," added the striker. "Andorra was a difficult game because they didn't really want to win the game or play. They just wanted to spoil it for us. But we were professional and we did a good job. As a forward, it can be difficult at times when teams have so many defenders back there. It was a bit frustrating, but I thought we coped well.

"We knew that, with a bit of patience, we'd get the goal and eventually it came. The game this week will at least be a football match. Croatia are a good footballing team and we know we'll have to be at the top of our game to get something there. We'll have to defend well, first of all, and create opportunities going forward. Hopefully we can do that."