Roy Hodgson is disappointed to lose Wayne Rooney for England's qualifiers and says he has struggled to get in touch with the injured striker.
Three Lions boss sends best wishes to injured striker
England manager Roy Hodgson is disappointed to lose Wayne Rooney ahead of the impending World Cup qualifiers and admits he has been struggling to get in touch with the injured striker.
Manchester United frontman Rooney will not be involved in next month's encounters with Moldova and Ukraine after he suffered a thigh injury against Fulham last weekend.
Hodgson, who will name his squad for the qualifying double-header on Thursday, says he has not been able to get in touch with the striker since he sustained the injury but admits his presence will be missed.
Best wishes
He told
Sky Sports: "I've left messages for him, I haven't actually spoken to him.
"I hope he's got the messages and I'll be very happy to speak to him but it's not always easy.
"To be fair, I was calling him the second day after the injury so he might well have been in hospital.
"I've heard that he's back at Manchester United today so I'll be trying to speak to him very, very soon.
"I certainly hope he's got my messages and my best wishes and if not he can certainly have them now."
The Three Lions boss added: "It's a great pity to lose Wayne. Obviously we were counting on him, relying on him, and the injury of course comes as an enormous blow not only to Manchester United and us but of course to player himself because I'm certain he was looking forward to getting off to a good start this season."
Hodgson says the striker's absence will give someone else the chance to stake their claim for a spot up front, with the manager having called on Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll when Rooney was missing through suspension at Euro 2012.
He said: "We're England and we do have a lot of English players to call on, so it's up to somebody else to fill the gap."
Exciting
Hodgson was giving nothing away over whether there would be any surprise inclusions in his squad as England get their qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 underway.
He added: "You'll have to wait and see. That's the whole point of announcing squads, it should be a little bit exciting for people.
"You'll find out tomorrow afternoon when we announce it."
