England's Wayne Rooney hits back at his critics

The Manchester United striker scored the first goal for the Three Lions in Wednesday’s match with Ecuador in Miami, despite featuring in a more withdrawn position on the left-hand side of the attack.

And after being on the end of criticism in recent weeks from a number of quarters, including former Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes, the 28-year-old has responded.

"To be honest, I'm not really interested in what anyone else has got to say," said Rooney.

"I'm interested in what Roy Hodgson and the coaching staff here and the people around me say. 

"People have their opinions but I don't agree with them."

Rooney has been hard at work on his fitness since the end of last season, even sacrificing his family holiday to do extra training in Portugal ahead of the England meet-up last month.

And he believes that has proved a wise decision, especially coupled with game time against Peru and Ecuador in the last seven days and the forthcoming game with Honduras on Saturday.

"I've said before I've trained hard, there's no injuries or recurrence of the groin strain I had at the end of the season," he added.

"I always would have needed game time such as the first game at Wembley and the Ecuador game. 

"And I felt really good, especially in the heat so I'm ready to play. 

"I'm sure the manager will have a tough decision but I'm ready. I hope to play on Saturday."

With the World Cup opener against Italy in Manaus just over a week away, Rooney also revealed that he’s happy to play any role in the line-up as long as it helps the team.

With the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Rickie Lambert both in good goalscoring form, the former Everton man knows that it’s about fitting himself around Roy Hodgson’s plans.

"I can play in different positions, I've proved that over the years," he explained. 

"It is down to the manager. It is not about me, it's about the team. If the manager wants to play me up top, in behind, left, right, I'm happy to do that."