England eye Rooney scoring record against Switzerland

England’s Wayne Rooney in action during his team’s UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifying Group E match against San Marino.

DPA/LondonHaving secured qualification for Euro 2016, England and Wayne Rooney now set their sights on the record book. England earned their place in France with a 6-0 rout of San Marino on Saturday as Rooney equalled Bobby Charlton’s national team record of 49 goals. The England captain will try to set the mark on Tuesday against Switzerland at Wembley Stadium. “To be level with Sir Bobby is a huge honor, a great moment and I am very proud of it,” he told BBC Radio. “Hopefully I will surpass that and become the outright leader.” Rooney lost his chance to pass Charlton on Saturday when he was substituted in the second half, a calculated move according to manager Roy Hodgson.  “It was planned,” he said. “In fact the team we put out was planned with a view to Tuesday night against Switzerland. “It would be nice if Wayne got his 50th goal against Switzerland, but one thing for certain is that he will get it. “It is not as if this was his last game and his only chance. If this was his last game for England and he needed that one goal, then I wouldn’t have taken him off.” Rooney was replaced by Harry Kane, who scored his first goal of the season. Theo Walcott also came off the bench to score a brace, while Ross Barkley netted his first senior international goal in the easy win. “These sort of games are where hopefully you can show what you can do,” Walcott said. “You have got to try to make a difference when you come on, not just go through the motions. “But we will be judged on more difficult games, so when it comes on Tuesday hopefully we will be given our chance and can hopefully show our stuff.” The win in San Marino was England’s seventh straight in Group E and left them as the only team with a 100 per cent qualifying record.  It also made them the first to earn a place in France, with three games to spare. “I’m not sure early qualification gives us any particular advantage because we are going to take a lot of time to plan and improve anyway,” Hodgson said.  “What it could do is give me the opportunity for experimentation because we did not get that ahead of the World Cup when we had to win our last two qualifiers to get to Brazil.” With the pressure to qualify now off Rooney urged his team-mates not to let up against the Swiss, who are second in the group. “It’s important we win the game,” he said. “We’ve qualified for next summer and we want to improve each game. “We want to keep pushing ourselves to get better. If we want to do well next summer we have to get better.” And while the record book beckons, the striker has his eyes on a bigger prize. “Obviously the tradition of Wembley and to break the record at Wembley would be great,” he said. “But it’s a team game and I’m in it to win trophies as a team. “I would swap all these goals for a winner’s medal next summer.”Now to see what happens.