Rooney's full-blooded commitment concerns coaches

Wayne Rooney will be back in training today, but he has been urged to calm down in training by some of the England coaching staff to avoid endangering his rehabilitation. The striker's full-blooded commitment has raised concern in some quarters that he could injure the metatarsal bone he broke on 29 April.

Rooney approached Saturday's five-a-side in Frankfurt for the non-playing substitutes after victory over Paraguay with great relish, so much so that there are fears he could put himself at risk. The 20-year-old is still a possibility to figure as a substitute on Thursday against Trinidad & Tobago, although nothing has been settled yet.

Manchester United have not sent out any specialist to check on Rooney's condition which would indicate that Sven Goran Eriksson has told them so far that he does not plan to use the player in Nuremberg.

An independent assessment of the striker's fitness was an option that was left open to United when Eriksson decided the player had made sufficient progress that he could return to Germany after his scan on 7 June.

There is no guarantee that United will take up the Football Association on their offer to send an independent assessor out to Germany to check up on Rooney if Eriksson decides that he is ready to play.

The club could well decide that such an approach is pointless given that Eriksson is unlikely to change his mind having already dismissed Professor Angus Wallace's advice that the player be rested until the knockout stages at least.

Today's training sessions will be vital if Rooney is to show Eriksson that he can be trusted in full contact, competitive football. United's assessment of the player last week was that the bone had virtually healed, but was still a risk.

So far, Rooney's contact with his fellow players in competitive matches has been limited, but when he is thrown in today he will be urged to take things easy at first.

Sources have denied that it was Rooney who was responsible for the tackle on Theo Walcott which left the Arsenal striker with a heavily strapped right calf, although Rooney is renowned for the gusto with which he approaches practice matches.