Eriksson bows to Moyes and omits Rooney

This time Sven Goran Eriksson has listened to David Moyes and left Wayne Rooney out of his England squad to face Croatia in the friendly match against Croatia at Ipswich next Wednesday.

Moyes' plea for his teenage prodigy to be rested and not taken all the way to South Africa at the end of last season for an exhibition game went unheeded. The Swede appears to have accepted the Everton manager's claim yesterday that Rooney is not match fit, but, then again, it was the evidence of his own eyes at Highbury yesterday, where Eriksson saw Rooney return as a second-half substitute for 33 minutes, that swung his decision.

Moyes said of Rooney: "He needs a week's training with me and a reserve game with us on Wednesday night. I've communicated that to Sven. If he was fit I'd have played him today."

Eriksson, who included his captain David Beckham, has called up the Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland for the first time alongside his club-mates, Danny Murphy, Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey. There is also a strong Chelsea contingent, with their new signings, Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge, called up along with John Terry and Frank Lampard. But there is no place for the other player who crossd over from West Ham to Stamford Bridge during the summer, Glen Johnson. The full-back has been given another outing in the Under-21 squad named by David Platt for their match, ironically, at Upton Park.

The Leeds United defender Danny Mills remains in favour with Eriksson, who has also stood by Mills' Elland Road team-mate, the goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

England squad: James (West Ham), Robinson (Leeds), Kirkland (Liverpool), Mills (Leeds), Bridge (Chelsea), A Cole (Arsenal), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), P Neville (Man Utd), Campbell (Arsenal), Woodgate (Newcastle), Beckham (Real Madrid), Scholes (Man Utd), Lampard (Chelsea), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Dyer (Newcastle), Murphy (Liverpool), Gerrard (Liverpool), Sinclair (Man City), J Cole (Chelsea), Butt (Man Utd), Owen (Liverpool), Heskey (Liverpool), Beattie (Southampton).