The decision to select the seemingly unfit striker, who has not made any pre-season appearances for the Premier League club, has only served to ignite speculation around his future.

And with Chelsea having already had two bids rejected for the 27-year-old, Hodgson insists that the choice to call him up for the August 14 friendly was not designed to undermine United manager David Moyes.

"The situation with Wayne is delicate at his club because obviously there is a dispute going on, but I've got to close my eyes to those things," he told talkSPORT.

"It's important that no one is going to be able to suggest that there is any wedge between David Moyes and I, or that I'm doing something that cuts against him. I'm not.

"David understands that having Wayne around me for these few days, even though he's not 100 per cent fit because he's going to play an important part later on.

"All I can hope for, I suppose, is that the situation resolves itself to everyone's satisfaction.

"In the meantime I will continue to have faith in him and continue to use him as long as he is physically fit to get onto the field of play."

The declaration from the England manager begs questions as to whether fitness has actually been the cause of the player's absence, but Hodgson wants Rooney in the squad ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The striker has already scored four goals in five games as England look to seal their spot in Brazil, with the next match against Moldova on September 6.