BOSS BACKS 'FRUSTRATED' ROONEY

Steve McClaren has called on Wayne Rooney to show "character and resilience" as he looks to bring an end to his poor run of form.

Rooney, 20, was substituted 15 minutes from the end of Saturday's goalless draw at home to Macedonia but McClaren has faith in him to come good against Croatia on Wednesday.

The Manchester United striker has not scored an England goal for almost a year and has not scored in a competitive international since the finals of Euro 2004.

McClaren said: "He needs games and needs to work through that. That's what he's doing. Nobody's working harder to do that than him.

"You can't just give up. I've seen him work extra in training. He's frustrated.

"Wayne has to show character and resilience now and come through it.

"Everyone knows what a quality player he is. Everybody knows what he can do.

"He does and we do and the next game may be the one where it happens."

Rooney is suffering from six months where injuries and suspensions have disrupted his game.

McClaren said: "Everyone can see that, but Wayne has got the resilience and the character we have to show as a team.

"He is below his usual performances but he's a great player. Nobody is more frustrated than Wayne Rooney.

"I'm not going to say who is going to play on Wednesday. He needs to work through it and he will start working through it on Monday."

England will train at home today before flying to Zagreb tomorrow ahead of Wednesday's game in the Maksimir Stadium.

Steven Gerrard is out, serving a one-match ban after receiving his second yellow card of the campaign against Macedonia but McClaren will not call anyone into the squad.

The England boss insists he will not make a snap decision on who will replace Gerrard on the right flank but Shaun Wright-Phillips made his case with an exciting cameo appearance against Macedonia.

Wright-Phillips, who has barely played for Chelsea this season, replaced Stewart Downing for the last 20 minutes at Old Trafford.

McClaren said: "He came on and did very well and gave us the pace and penetration we'd been lacking. We wanted to get crosses in the box and we didn't get enough.

"What encouraged me was that he showed great confidence when he came on.

"He took players on and he was unlucky on a couple of occasions."