Wayne Rooney hits a shot during training with England.Wayne Rooney hits a shot during training with England.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart hailed captain Wayne Rooney as England’s “main man” ahead of tonight’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania.

Roy Hodgson’s side head into the encounter top of Group E, with a 100 per cent record from their first four games.

The spotlight in the build-up has largely been on uncapped Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who earned a first senior call-up on the back of 29 goals for his club this season, but Rooney remains the most important English forward in Hart’s eyes.

“He’s our captain, he’s our leader and he’s soon to be the leading goalscorer for his country,” the Man. City man said of the Manchester United skipper.

“He’s won over 100 caps and he’s our main man.”

The teams have never met at senior level, although Kane scored the only goal when England Under-21s beat their Lithuanian counterparts last September.

Liverpool duo Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana have both withdrawn from Hodgson’s squad for today’s game, with Luke Shaw and Fraser Forster joining long-term absentees Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Ben Foster on the injury list. Tottenham defender Danny Rose also pulled out on Wednesday evening.

Lithuania will be without midfielder Arvydas Novikovas and striker Lukas Spalvis due to injury.

England sit on 12 points at the pool summit, with Slovenia, Switzerland and Lithuania each on six.

Slovenia take on bottom side San Marino in Ljubljana, and midfielder Jasmin Kurtic has vowed not to take the group minnows lightly.

“Against San Marino it is not the case that we need to win, but we have to go on the pitch with the right attitude,” he said.

Switzerland are also expected to pick up three points, at home to Estonia, who were held to a goalless draw by San Marino in November.

Juventus forward Alvaro Morata is likely to feature up front for Spain in today’s qualifier against Ukraine in Seville, coach Vicente del Bosque said yesterday.

Morata is the obvious choice in the striker’s role for the European champions following the withdrawal due to injury of Diego Costa as second-placed Spain look to maintain pressure on Group C leaders Slovakia.

“We have been training with all the players we have, we have deployed them in the positions they are going to play and we have a lot of expectations of Morata,” Del Bosque told a news conference ahead of the game at Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.

“It has been positive that he has enriched himself by moving abroad and it is good that he has had playing time (at Juve),” Del Bosque added.

Morata joined the Italian champions from Real Madrid in the close season after breaking into Real’s first team from the youth ranks but finding his playing time limited.

Strikers competition

The 22-year-old, who has scored seven goals in 22 Serie A appearances this term for the Italian champions, is competing for a place up front with the likes of Barcelona’s Pedro and Malaga’s Juanmi.

Cesc Fabregas, who plays in midfield for Chelsea but has often been drafted in as an extra striker for his country, is another option.

Morata was given strong backing by Spain team mates Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta.

“He deserves to be here,” Real centre back Ramos said.

“He is a forward who stirs things up, who looks for the spaces, who moves well up front and he gives the team a good alternative.”

With four matches played, Spain are second in Group C on nine points, three behind Slovakia.

Group C

Playing today
Macedonia vs Belarus - 20.45
Slovakia vs Luxembourg - 20.45
Spain vs Ukraine - 20.45

  P W D L F A Pts
Slovakia 4 4 0 0 8 2 12
Spain 4 3 0 1 13 3 9
Ukraine 4 3 0 1 6 1 9
Macedonia 4 1 0 3 4 10 3
Belarus 4 0 1 3 2 9 1
Luxembourg 4 0 1 3 3 11 1

Group E

Playing today
England vs Lithuania - 20.45
Slovenia vs San Marino - 20.45
Switzerland vs Estonia - 20.45

  P W D L F A Pts
England 4 4 0 0 11 1 12
Slovenia 4 2 0 2 4 4 6
Switzerland 4 2 0 2 8 3 6
Lithuania 4 2 0 2 3 6 6
Estonia 4 1 1 2 1 2 4
San Marino 4 0 1 3 0 11 1

Group G

Playing today
Liechtenstein vs Austria - 20.45
Moldova vs Sweden - 20.45
Montenegro vs Russia - 20.45

  P W D L F A Pts
Austria 4 3 1 0 5 2 10
Sweden 4 1 3 0 5 3 6
Russia 4 1 2 1 6 3 5
Montenegro 4 1 2 1 3 2 5
Liechtenstein 4 1 1 2 1 6 4
Moldova 4 0 1 3 2 6 1

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