LONDON, England, February 26 – England caretaker manager Stuart Pearce’s selection headache ahead of his first match in charge against Holland deepened on Sunday when both Wayne Rooney and Manchester United team-mate Tom Cleverley were ruled out.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed Rooney will not be available for Wednesday’s match due to a throat infection while also ruling out young midfielder Cleverley.
“They’ll be out,” he told Sky Sports News after his side’s last minute 2-1 win over Norwich.
“Wayne has still not recovered from his throat infection, so hopefully we’ll get him ready for next Sunday, when we have a big game at White Hart Lane.”
Pearce – standing in after Fabio Capello’s dramatic resignation earlier this month – had already lost striker Darren Bent, who injured an ankle in Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw with Wigan on Saturday.