Roy Hodgson has congratulated Wayne Rooney as he prepares to hand the striker his 100th England appearance on Saturday.
The Three Lions face Slovenia at Wembley, and 29-year-old Rooney will become the youngest player to join England's illustrious 100-club.
Captain Rooney will be the country's ninth centurion and will no doubt cherish the moment when he receives a golden cap from Sir Bobby Charlton before the European Qualifier.
England v Slovenia
European Qualifier
5pm, Saturday 15 November
Wembley Stadium connected by EE
www.TheFA.com/tickets
Live on ITV
“I congratulate him, just like I've had the pleasure of congratulating Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard," said the England Manager.
"It's incredible that during my watch I've been able to congratulate four players on playing 100 times for England. I'm delighted it's Wayne's turn.
"It is very difficult to summarise in just a few words what makes someone such a great England player that they can amass 100 caps.
“It is ability but also mental strength and the ability to pick yourself up sometimes when you come under scrutiny. Secondly an enormous passion to play for your country."
He continued: “They take the criticism and the scrutiny, they show the mental strength to come back stronger than ever.
Roy Hodgson during training on Friday
"Any player that has played 100 times for England deserve the label 'great'.”
Hodgson also confirmed that Leighton Baines was forced to pull out of the squad with an injury he felt in training on Friday.
“It was a relatively short training session, we had done the warm-up and a bit of passing work, and we were just about to go into a game situation, which had only just begun, when he felt his hamstring.
“He obviously felt something wasn't right, but we'll have to wait until the doctors at Everton do their analysis."
