Wayne Rooney has hit back at claims he trained with England's 'reserves' yesterday and reiterated his desire to do extra training in preparation for the decisive Group D clash against Uruguay on Thursday.
The Manchester United striker was deployed in a wide role against Italy on Saturday and was subdued for the most part, despite providing an assist for Daniel Sturridge's equaliser.
The 28-year-old was also criticised for a lack of support offered to left back Leighton Baines, who was at times exposed by the Azzurri in the 2-1 defeat in Manaus.
Prior to the World Cup starting Rooney took extra sessions in a bid to get over a groin injury which forced him to miss the end of the Premier League season with United.
England's talisman has looked short of match sharpness since then – despite starting the last four Three Lions games he has only played 90 minutes in two of them.
At England's Urca training base on Monday Rooney stayed behind for extra shooting practice, leading to some reports that this was an order directly from Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson.
Rooney was the only player involved in the session likely to start against Uruguay but the forward took to his Facebook page to defend himself.
"Sometimes wonder what the press are getting at," said Rooney. "I said from the start I want to do everything I can to make sure I'm ready for these World Cup games and as part of that I was doing extra training a week before the squad joined up.
"That's exactly what I did yesterday, my own extra training because that's what I wanted to do."
