GROUP G:AT LEAST Fabio Capello uncovered one heartening incident in the goalless draw with Montenegro. A question about Wayne Rooney's booking brought an answer that was as candid as it was unexpected.

“The yellow card was really, really good,” said the England manager, “because it was a really dangerous counterattack.” He was carelessly expressing aloud the thought processes of people in professional sport. The Italian cannot have been paying attention last month when the Football Association saturated Wembley with publicity for the Respect and Fair Play campaigns before kick-off against Bulgaria.

Rooney’s foul on Elsad Zverotic was memorable merely because it emphasised the jeopardy England were in when their own attacks were so drab. Far too much rests with Rooney.

“He had two clear chances,” Capello mused. “In the game against Switzerland he had one chance and one goal.”

Rooney, meanwhile, has risked fracturing his relationship with Alex Ferguson after contradicting his manager at Manchester United by denying he has been suffering from an ankle complaint this season. Ferguson omitted the forward from his side’s fixtures against Valencia and Sunderland citing a “niggling ankle injury”, which he had claimed would require up to three weeks to heal.

That assessment was later modified, with Rooney released for international duty after a scan had apparently revealed only minor ligament damage, yet the player’s insistence he has never been injured suggests his manager’s decision to exclude him owed more to sluggish form than fitness.

Asked whether his ankle had caused him any discomfort against Montenegro, Rooney was emphatic. “I’ve had no problems with my ankle all season. None. I’ve been training for the last two months. I haven’t missed a training session, so there’s no problem with my fitness.”

When asked why Ferguson had suggested he was carrying an injury, the striker shrugged and added: “I don’t know.”

England’s 3-1 win in Basle insulates England against the chill induced by this week’s threadbare showing but the manager may still be glad his contract ends in 2012.

While Capello is adamant he will welcome retirement at his then age of 66, it is also pragmatic for him to take his leave before a potential anxiety about the extent of resources can undermine whoever is in charge. We will be given some indication of the worth of the contenders when England face France next month. Capello is clear the occasion is not intended primarily to give match practice to the usual personnel.

“It is a friendly and there will be more substitutions,” he said. “It will be important for young players.”

On Tuesday Capello preferred to plug a gap with the 33-year-old Kevin Davies, who made his international debut from the bench. The Bolton Wanderers forward got himself booked and the referee, Manuel Grafe, must soon have been tempted to show a further yellow. Capello was asked whether Andy Carroll would feature against the French at Wembley. “He has to play,” said the manager crisply of the 21-year-old’s situation. The Newcastle United striker was restricted to 13 minutes as a substitute in his last outing, at Manchester City.

There are prospects in whom Capello holds a firmer faith. Jack Wilshere was on the bench at Wembley and mattered too much for the manager to risk tarnishing him by association with the men toiling against Montenegro.

At least the raw material is noteworthy. England won the Under-17 European Championship this year by beating Spain and some of those players have been promoted to the under-19s but these are early days. Connor Wickham, scorer of the winner in that final, is with Ipswich Town in the Championship. Josh McEachran, a midfielder capable of going past opponents, has impressed Carlo Ancelotti but is still to start a game for Chelsea.

People are scared to be optimistic over another home-grown so-called “golden generation”.

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