Wayne Rooney Set For World Cup Decision

England expect to discover if Wayne Rooney can travel to the World Cup in Germany after he undergoes a fresh scan on his broken foot on Thursday.

Sven-Goran Eriksson was non-committal on team doctor Leif Sward's claim that Rooney was making "a perfect recovery".

"He will have a scan and after that we will hopefully know more or less when he will be ready," said England's boss. "I know he is working very well. We are in contact with him and the doctors and he's doing very well."

Eriksson has refused to rule out the 20-year-old Manchester United striker from his plans for the tournament.

He added: "So far everything is okay but let's wait until Thursday. I think nobody knows today. I always - more with the heart than the head - said that he will play in the World Cup."

Eriksson revealed that 17-year-old Arsenal striker Theo Walcott will play some part in the B international against Belarus at Reading on Thursday.

He said: "You will see him on Thursday. Maybe not from the beginning but you will see him. He was quiet with us in the beginning but you can see he is a really great talent. He is very quick, has got a good touch and he scored a couple of goals in the last training session with us."

Eriksson has also been pleased with forward Michael Owen's progress as he recovers from the broken foot that has limited him to 30 minutes of first-team action for Newcastle since New Year's Eve.

He stated: "He is hungry, ready, and he was on fire in training at the start of last week. We had four very good training sessions last week. The boys worked very hard and looked very sharp. I remember four years ago and it was nothing like last week - this time it was much better. We tested them in Portugal and the results of those were very, very positive - much better than four years ago in Japan and two years ago in Portugal."

Meanwhile, Sir Bobby Charlton believes playing Rooney at the World Cup could be "disastrous" for Manchester United.

The 68-year-old, who is a director at Old Trafford, says the club will not rush the England striker back.

"It would appear his treatment has gone well and it could well be he could play some part in the World Cup," he said. "But to make a mistake and play him before he is fit would be absolutely disastrous. More disastrous for United, than for England. We will look very, very carefully at it and he will not be allowed to play unless he's fully fit. That is a certainty."