Israel midfielder Yossi Benayoun has backed Wayne Rooney to bounce back from his England goal drought and insisted he will remain a "big player" in Steve McClaren's plans.
Rooney's failure to find the net in the goalless draw against Israel means the Manchester United player has not scored in a competitive fixture for his country for nearly three years - since the Euro 2004 finals.
He looks a shadow of the player who would cause mayhem to international defences and his frustration showed as he was booked and came close to completely losing his temper.
But West Ham player Benayoun is adamant Rooney, who has netted just three goals in friendly internationals in the last 33 months, will again deliver the goods for his country.
He said: "Wayne Rooney is a big player. You cannot expect him to be the best player every game and score in every game.
"There are times like he is having that every player has. I am one of the leading scorers for the Israel national team and had a spell when I didn't score for two years.
"You need to keep patience and to believe in yourself during those times and I think Rooney will score a lot more goals for England. He is a top, top player.
"We also raised our defensive game because if you give people like Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon a lot of space, we would have lost the game because they are a lot better players than us.
"We made it hard for them. We compressed the space well and they didn't create a lot of things."
Rooney's only England goals since Euro 2004 came against Denmark (August 2005), Argentina (November 2005) and Holland (November 2006).
Benayoun has first-hand experience of the majority of the England squad from doing battle with them in the Barclays Premiership but believes you have to handle a different pressure when on duty for your country.
He said: "I know the England players from the Premiership but it is different when you play for your country.
"There is a lot more pressure when you play for the national team. If you lose a game in the league, you can quickly win the next game and put things right.
"If you lose for your country, you can sometimes wait four or five months to get the chance to play again. There is a different pressure.
"People should also remember it is not an easy game for sides when they play Israel away. We don't lose many games at our place."
He looks a shadow of the player who would cause mayhem to international defences and his frustration showed as he was booked and came close to completely losing his temper.
But West Ham player Benayoun is adamant Rooney, who has netted just three goals in friendly internationals in the last 33 months, will again deliver the goods for his country.
He said: "Wayne Rooney is a big player. You cannot expect him to be the best player every game and score in every game.
"There are times like he is having that every player has. I am one of the leading scorers for the Israel national team and had a spell when I didn't score for two years.
"You need to keep patience and to believe in yourself during those times and I think Rooney will score a lot more goals for England. He is a top, top player.
"We also raised our defensive game because if you give people like Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon a lot of space, we would have lost the game because they are a lot better players than us.
"We made it hard for them. We compressed the space well and they didn't create a lot of things."
Rooney's only England goals since Euro 2004 came against Denmark (August 2005), Argentina (November 2005) and Holland (November 2006).
Benayoun has first-hand experience of the majority of the England squad from doing battle with them in the Barclays Premiership but believes you have to handle a different pressure when on duty for your country.
He said: "I know the England players from the Premiership but it is different when you play for your country.
"There is a lot more pressure when you play for the national team. If you lose a game in the league, you can quickly win the next game and put things right.
"If you lose for your country, you can sometimes wait four or five months to get the chance to play again. There is a different pressure.
"People should also remember it is not an easy game for sides when they play Israel away. We don't lose many games at our place."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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