Wayne Rooney: I’ll never turn down England unless my body gives up

Speaking before the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland, Wayne Rooney said: ‘I’d be disappointed if I ended my England career on 50 goals. I want to score as many as I can.’ Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Wayne Rooney has said he will always be available to England, insisting it will be up to the manager to call time eventually on his international career, as he seeks to establish a new national goalscoring record which endures for generations.

The Manchester United striker will move clear of Sir Bobby Charlton at the top of the national team’s scoring charts, and become the 44th player with 50 goals for his country, if he registers against Switzerland on Tuesday. Rooney, who also suggested he had made his peace with Sir Alex Ferguson after the breakdown of their relationship towards the end of the Scot’s tenure at Old Trafford, believes he has an active role to play with the England team through to the 2018 World Cup and, potentially, beyond.

“I feel I’ve got still quite a lot of games left to play for England,” said the striker. “If I was sat here saying ‘I just want to get 50 goals’, then I’d be lying. I’d be disappointed if I ended my England career on 50 goals. I want to kick on and try to score as many goals as I can. I’ve still got plenty of games to do that. Hopefully by the time I finish playing it will be more goals than 50. As long as the manager wants me, then I will be available to play.

“Realistically 2018 is a target for me, to go and play that World Cup, and then we will see what happens in terms of the manager or myself. I’ll listen to my body but, if I still feel 100% fit for England and I can do my job, then we will see what happens after that.

“If I feel I can carry on, I’ll try. But I won’t be one to say I’m not available for selection. I’m sure it’ll probably be the manager’s choice more than mine. It’s a huge honour to play for England and I imagine it’ll be difficult to say I’m ready not to play.”

Rooney admitted there had been “differences” of opinion with Ferguson back in 2013-14, the manager’s last season at United, with their relationship having deteriorated after the striker was played out of position following Robin van Persie’s arrival at the club. He was omitted from the second leg of a Champions League knockout tie against Real Madrid and subsequently made clear his desire to leave Old Trafford, a reality made public by Sir Alex before his final home game in charge. Chelsea attempted to sign him that summer before the player opted instead to sign a new long-term deal worth £300,000 a week.

“We had differences [of opinion] but that’s normal,” said Rooney. “Ask Roy [Hodgson]. He’s had differences with players over the years, too. That’s part of football. I’m not the only person who had differences with Sir Alex Ferguson but I can still sit here and say he was the greatest manager of all time.

“I still see Sir Alex quite a bit at games and he travels away to European games with us. It’s not that we don’t like each other. We just had differences. That’s normal.”

Hodgson will recall Raheem Sterling, Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling, all of whom missed the 6-0 win in San Marino last Saturday which confirmed Englandas the first side to qualify for Euro 2016 from the groups, but the manager has lost Michael Carrick with a calf injury which he sustained in the warm-up in Serravalle.

“It’s a major blow, not only to us but to Michael, who was looking forward to coming back,” said the manager, who has been able to start a game with the Manchester United midfielder only once in almost two years. “I hope it won’t be a recurring injury but it’s not the time to make a judgment. He might get over this very quickly and go on to play a big part for United and hardly miss a game.”

Nathaniel Clyne is expected to retain his place at right-back, with John Stones dropping to the bench.

England’s preparations for the tournament will include a friendly against Spain on 13 November – four days before the visit of France to Wembley – in Alicante’s 30,000 capacity José Rico Pérez stadium if the holders do not require a play-off to qualify for the tournament. The Football Association has lined up another high-profile game against Germany in Berlin and will also play Holland next March.