LONDON: Southampton striker Rickie Lambert has been named among England’s  weakened strike for Wednesday FA 150th anniversary friendly against Scotland at Wembley.

The announcement by manager Roy Hodgson added to Lambert’s celebrations after his partner had given birth to a daughter hours earlier.

Manchester United’s unsettled Wayne Rooney has also ben included in the squad despite missing almost all of pre-season because of hamstring and shoulder injuries. Hence United team-mate Wilfried Zaha has been promoted from the under-21s.

Celtic midfielder Scott Brown will captain a Scotland team boosted by the return from injury of striker Kenny Miller. Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher is sidelined with an ankle injury.

Lambert, 31, scored 15 goals as he played Premier League football for the first time last season having spent much of his career in lower divisions.

He began his career at Blackpool but was released on a free transfer in 2000.

The forward went on to play for Macclesfield, Stockport, Rochdale and Bristol Rovers before joining then-League One side Southampton for £1m in August 2009.

Lambert’s goals helped them win successive promotions and he went on to play a key role for the Saints in the top flight.

He finished last season as the joint leading English goalscorer in the Premier League along with Frank Lampard.

In a bid to ensure he is fit to form a potential partnership with Lambert, Manchester United striker Rooney trained with the club’s reserve team on Thursday.

The 27-year-old wanted a hard work-out instead of the gentle session planned for the first team ahead of Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial against Sevilla on Friday.

He has missed all six of United’s pre-season matches so far, having flown home from Thailand less than 24 hours after his arrival because of a hamstring injury, then picking up a minor shoulder problem that prevented him from travelling to Stockholm for Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with AIK.

Winger Zaha returns to the England squad for the first time since playing for seven minutes against Sweden in Stockholm last November. He was in the under-21 squad who failed to progress beyond the group stage at the Euro juniors in Israel in June.

Manager Roy Hodgson will also take charge of the Under-21 team for the game against Scotland on Tuesday.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jack Wilshere, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young, Wilfried Zaha,

Strikers: Jermain Defoe, Rickie Lambert, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck

 

#################