England’s Joleon Lescott plays down Wayne Rooney disciplinary fears

Joleon Lescott has played down concerns over Wayne Rooney’s disciplinary record ahead of England’s crunch clash against Montenegro on Tuesday night.

Roy Hodgson’s men travel to Podgorica looking to move ahead of the Group H leaders after a 8-0 victory over San Marino in their World Cup qualifier on Friday night.

Rooney was sent off in a 2-2 draw when England last visited the Montenegrin capital in November 2011 during their qualifying campaign for European championship.

However, Lescott is sure that the Three Lions will do a disciplined and professional job against their group rivals.

“Wayne is older now. He is more experienced and mature,” said Lescott. “We all are. I don’t think there will be a problem.

“We want to be disciplined and professional. With the calibre of players in this squad, I don’t think it will be a problem.”

Lescott says confidence is high amongst Hodgson’s squad following their emphatic win against San Marino.

“They [Montenegro] are very organised. They are tough to break down, but we are confident,” he added.

“Winning breeds confidence. No disrespect to San Marino but we played well against them and we will hope to do the same on Tuesday. When we came away our aim was six points and that is still our main focus. Ukraine beating Poland on Friday night was a good result for us.

“If we win on Tuesday that would give us a good run into the second half of the qualifying campaign.”