I got battered after playing to instructions for England, says frustrated Wayne Rooney

No longer the rapid, lung-busting striker that captivated as a teenager, he is having to adapt to the changes that come with being an attack-minded player in your thirties.

It is a difficult transition exacerbated by the scrutiny of the wider footballing world, leading Rooney’s place in the line-up – never mind his role – to be inspected like never before.

Some have gone as far as to suggest the 30-year-old is not only past his prime but past it altogether – talk that inspires rather than dissuades the England and Manchester United captain.

“No,” Rooney retorted when asked if his career was coming to an end after being dropped to the bench for three straight club matches.

“It is part of football. It is the challenge and I am determined to get back in the team at obviously club level.

“I think people have their opinions. I have said it many times, people are entitled to their opinions.

“It is football, you cannot play all the time, even if you want to. I am at a stage now I want to play. I’ve never really been at this stage of my career.

“I am a fighter. I want to get back in the team. I will work hard to try and do that, so that is where I am at. I am sure people who know me know I will come back.”

Rooney spoke with a confidence and determination that belied the figure painted by United’s manager Jose Mourinho, who just last week said he felt the need to “protect” his captain having returned from England’s trip to Slovakia a different person.

This is not a perspective Rooney shares having grown used to the “massive over-hype” that follow his displays, or, as seen over recent days, being dropped from the United side.

“Does it gee you up? Of course it does,” he said. “It’s almost like going to an audition when you get turned down – you want to prove yourself to people.”

Coming back is one thing, where Rooney is best suited is another.

Erstwhile England manager Sam Allardyce fuelled that debate after the narrow win in Slovakia, expressing surprise at how far his captain had dropped in his midfield role.

Not only is that a position he looked set to avoid having been restored to an attacking role at United under Mourinho, Allardyce raised eyebrows by saying “Wayne played wherever he wanted to” in Trnava.

“It couldn’t be further from the truth, I play to instructions,” Rooney said, admitting the questions over his role are grating.

“I got battered in many different ways for my performance, which I felt was actually a decent performance.

“I suffered from that, but I thought Sam’s change in putting Dele (Alli) on allowed us to win the game, with me and Eric (Dier) controlling it and winning the second balls, getting balls into dangerous areas.

“He knew he had made a mistake. That’s part of being involved at this level.

“He understood that quite early and unfortunately he doesn’t have the chance to rectify that now.”

Allardyce apologised to Rooney on the plane home from Slovakia for what was one of several ill-judged comments of late.

The former England manager appeared to see just why Louis van Gaal and Roy Hodgson deployed him in midfield towards the end of the last season, with Rooney again repeating his desire to play that role permanently down the line.

Rejecting the theory he has burned out but conceding he has lost some of his pace, he feels his footballing intelligence will allow him to dictate games in midfield “to a very high standard” for years to come.

It appears a matter of when rather than if that full-time switch comes about, with former England assistant Gary Neville saying this is a “transition into a new phase” of Rooney’s career, just like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Steven Gerrard before him.

“I have heard a lot of people talking about transition – well, let me do it,” he said.

“If that is what’s going to happen, let me do that. I feel I am not being given a chance if that is the way I want to go in my career to expand it. I am not being given that chance to go from there to there.

“It is all right talking about your career, saying you can extend it by doing this and that, but of course you need to be given that chance to do it.”