WAYNE ROONEY has told Sven-Göran Eriksson that he hopes to be given the all-clear to play in the World Cup finals when he undergoes a scan a week today. The Manchester United forward was rated extremely doubtful when he fractured a metatarsal on April 29 but, after a remarkable recovery, he has told the England head coach that he believes he will be fit.

Rooney stayed in Manchester undergoing treatment while his international team-mates started their preparations at a five-day training camp in the Algarve, but he has felt confident enough to tell Eriksson that he feels he is winning his race against time. Much will hinge on the results of the scan next Thursday, but Rooney hopes to be fit for the final game in group B, against Sweden in Cologne on June 20, and to lead England into the knockout stages.

“After May 25 we will know much better what’s going to happen,” Eriksson said yesterday. “I always feel positive, not for medical reasons but because I feel that he will do absolutely everything to try to be fit as soon as possible.

“I spoke to him last week and he’s working and doing everything they ask him to, maybe more. Of course he’s desperate to play in the World Cup. He wants to compete with Ronaldinho and Ronaldo and all the other best players in the world. It’s difficult to say more before May 25. We will be much more clever after that.”

United remain guarded about the prospect and Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, has admitted that self-interest will help to decide whether Rooney should go to Germany, but the 20-year-old, while prepared to accept the advice of Old Trafford’s medical staff, is known to be increasingly optimistic.

Now fit enough to apply pressure on his injured right foot, he has pencilled in June 10 — the day England play their opening game, against Paraguay in Frankfurt — to resume full training.

Eriksson hinted that he could use the friendly matches against Hungary on May 30 and Jamaica on June 3 to experiment with Peter Crouch and Theo Walcott in attack, as well as exploring the option of using Steven Gerrard in a more advanced role, but the Swede admitted that his plans are up in the air until the issue of Rooney’s fitness is resolved.

“I’m not thinking about tactics or formations at the moment,” he said. “Everything depends on Wayne Rooney. If he is fit, he will play up front with Michael Owen, because that’s the best couple we have.”

With Owen confident that he will be fit to lead the attack, the outlook seems far rosier for England than it did a few weeks ago, prompting Eriksson to declare that his team have a great chance of winning the World Cup. “We have a better chance this year (than in 2002),” he said. “It’s the best squad and the best team I’ve had. I won’t have any excuses, that’s for sure.”

Eriksson continues to bristle at suggestions that England have underachieved during his tenure, saying that reaching the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 was “not that bad”. But an improvement this time is vital, perhaps not least for his own ambitions once he vacates his role after the tournament.

Benfica are the latest club to be linked with an offer for his services and, with his chances of a move to Real Madrid likely to hinge on the Spanish club’s presidential elections in early July, Eriksson said that he could be tempted to take charge of the Portuguese club for a second time.

“There are a lot of rumours that I should go back and I heard those rumours too, but nothing from Benfica,” he said. “I hope that I will have a job after the World Cup somewhere and Benfica is a great club, but I haven’t heard anything from them.”