Sir Geoff Hurst: 'Wayne Rooney is a good choice for England captaincy'

Sir Geoff Hurst believes that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney "deserves" to don the captain's armband for England this evening.

The 26-year-old was picked by manager Roy Hodgson to lead the Three Lions out at Wembley tonight for their 2014 World Cup qualifier due to the suspension of regular skipper Steven Gerrard.

"I think it's a good choice," Hurst told Goal.com. "Even though he's been around for such a long time, I think we all think of him as like a young newcomer but he's actually 26.

"He has a tremendous amount of experience and he's got 70 or so caps. I think the decision to make him captain is a good one and it's been a good week for him as he's just found out he's going to be a father again. It's a fantastic week for the Rooney family and he deserves to be given the captaincy."

Meanwhile, reports have claimed that Leighton Baines will be chosen ahead of Ashley Cole in Hodgson's starting XI tonight.