England's Rooney dodges Bale's Wales question at Euro 2016

Lens (France) (AFP) – England captain Wayne Rooney produced a sharp turn of foot on Wednesday when presented with a question about how many Wales players would get into his team.

When Gareth Bale was asked how many players from England would get into the Wales side, ahead of their Euro 2016 showdown in Lens on Thursday, the grinning Welsh star replied: “None.”

The question was flipped around for England’s pre-game press conference, but Rooney was reluctant to answer it, gesturing to manager Roy Hodgson and saying: “I don’t know. That’s something you have to ask Roy!”

Hodgson was more expansive, but he also refused to take the bait.

“I think that’s a question that many a journalist in the mass media and maybe many a fan would be asking,” he told reporters.

“But I’ve got to be honest with you, I’ve never, ever as a coach of team considered which of these players would get into our team and which of our players would get into their team.

“It’s a matter of total disinterest to me because none of those Welsh players are available to play for England.

“So I’m afraid I’ll have to throw the question back at you and say I’ll leave you to come up with the answer to that.

“You can decide and you can even have a little quiz amongst yourselves and put your teams together. I’d be interested to see what results you come up with.”