Rooney added the England player of the year prize to his growing collection of honours today after finishing top of the poll of England fans on www.thefa.com, ahead of Gareth Barry and Theo Walcott, to claim the prestigious award for 2008.

He continued his excellent form for the Three Lions at Wembley on Saturday with a brace in the friendly win over Slovakia at Wembley, taking his current tally under Fabio Capello to seven goals in four games.

Yet seven days earlier he hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when he exploded following what he felt was an unjust red card at Fulham, punching the corner flag as he made his way to the dressing rooms.

Fabio Capello did speak with Rooney about the incident, although he has not tried to curb the 23-year-old's aggressive instincts and insists he has no fears about the Manchester United man ahead of Wednesday's vital World Cup qualifier against the Ukraine.

And Rooney, while accepting he can sometimes boil over, feels it is part of the overall package which makes him what he is.

"I do get frustrated at times but aggression has always been part of my game," he told Nuts magazine.

"The desire to win makes me the player I am. Take that away and I would be totally different. I will never get used to losing."

It is winning that Rooney wants to become a habit.

In that regard it has been an impressive period for the Merseysider, who captured Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup prizes with Manchester United last year, with a Carling Cup win following last month thanks to the victory over Tottenham.

Yet he has learned from his Old Trafford team-mates not to spend too much time pondering what has been won.

"I want to win more trophies, earn more caps and score more goals," Rooney told www.thefa.com.

"When I finish my career I can look back on those kind of things, but while I'm still playing I don't want to be looking back, I only want to look forward to the achievements I can get in the future.

"After we won the Champions League last season we were thinking about the start of the next season straight away.

"The manager said 'make sure we're ready for next season'. It is something that you have to do. You can enjoy the night when you win trophies but after that you're looking forward to winning them again."

So far Rooney, like every England player since 1966, has won nothing for his country.

Too many times false hopes have been raised in the belief the next tournament would be the one to finally add more heroes to Bobby Moore and his boys for anyone surrounding the Three Lions camp to start doing it again.

But there is no doubt Fabio Capello has brought a conviction seldom previously seen, even in a run to three successive quarter-finals under Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Despite his tender years, Rooney will earn his 50th cap on Wednesday, which qualifies him to offer an opinion.

And he is adamant there is a freshness under Capello which generates plenty of optimism for the future.

"Since the manager came in the routine has changed and the team started playing a lot better football," he said.

"The main aim was to get wins in qualifying games and we did that, and thankfully I was able to score some goals as well.

"I still get shivers down my spine when I play for England. It is every player's aim to win a trophy for your country.

"It is something that hasn't happened in many decades now. If we could do that in the next few years I'm sure everyone would be absolutely delighted."

England are certainly well placed to qualify for South Africa, having won their first four games to top Group Six.

If the Ukraine - the only team Capello's men have yet to encounter - can be brushed aside as well, one foot would be in the Finals already with just half the campaign completed.

"We had some great results and performances in our qualifying games last year," reflected Rooney.

"Now we have some important matches coming up and we must not get complacent."