MY MESSAGE TO Trinidad & Tobago’s players: if Wayne Rooney comes on, get stuck in. Tackle him hard, test him out, leave him face down on the floor. Please — it’s just what England need.

Think of the morale boost if Rooney is scythed by a psycho-tackle from behind then writhes around clutching his injured foot — only to get back up again a few seconds later and resume normal service. His team-mates will look at each other with relief and think: “The kid’s fine.” Twenty minutes of Rooney in an easy win over Trinidad that helps England into the next round, then the full 90 in a match against Sweden that has no more importance than a friendly. Perfect, eh?

I damaged my ankle ligaments as a 19-year-old playing for Gillingham in the third division. A buzz was starting to develop that I might be capable of playing at a higher level, so opposition players knew who I was. I was just back from injury and we played Lincoln City. A veteran Lincoln centre back came up and asked how my ankle was. “Yeah, it’s all right,” I said. “You’re going to find out how ‘all right’ it really is today,” he said with a sneer and duly launched into a few choice tackles from behind during the game.

It’s not cheating, it’s a part of football. If you think your opponent has a weakness, exploit it. You’d be stupid not to. If I was Leo Beenhakker, the Trinidad & Tobago coach, I’d tell my players to get stuck in to Rooney, to test him out as soon as he’s on the pitch. Unsettle him, see how frail that metatarsal still might be. Tell your defenders: “Go straight through him on the first challenge and see if his foot holds up.”

Rooney will know all this and, given the kind of player he is, he’ll probably be thinking: “Bring it on.” He wouldn’t ask for special treatment. Test after test after test — that’s what football is. So you might as well enjoy it. After all, even a fully fit player is only one tackle away from a devastating injury. Handling the sly tactics of inferior opponents is part of being a great player. Loads of people went after Diego Maradona and he relished it. He seemed to see himself as a matador, inviting on the dumb animals, teasing them, putting himself in danger and trusting in his genius to evade harm.

Even in the Barclays Premiership, Rooney is hunted by opponents, such is his talent and reputation. Multiply that by a factor of ten against Trinidad because many of their players are from the English lower leagues and you only have to look at the FA Cup to see how much lower-league footballers love to rough up rich superstars.

It’s potentially a tough environment to bring Rooney into, but there’s no point wrapping him in cotton wool. Whether England fans will want to watch from behind the sofa when Rooney is on the ball will depend on how the match unfolds. If England are struggling and need Rooney to rescue them, expect the tackles to be stiffer than if they are cruising to victory.