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James Milner, set to win his 50th England cap against San Marino on Thursday, believes his international captain Wayne Rooney has a good chance of reaching another significant landmark in the coming days.
Rooney, 28, is fourth on England's all-time scoring list with 41 goals in 97 internationals and with Bobby Charlton's all-time record of 49 in his sights, he could move past Jimmy Greaves into third place in the Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia next Monday.
Greaves scored 44 goals in 57 internationals between 1959 and 1967 and Rooney has the perfect opportunity to overtake the mark and move closer to Gary Lineker, second on the list with 48 goals, against two lowly-ranked opponents.
ManchesterCity midfielder Milner told reporters at England's training base at St George'sPark that he believes Rooney would go closer to those targets.
"He has had a fantastic career and has scored so many important goals for us so hopefully he can get more over the next couple of games -- and years -- going forwards.
"It is a good opportunity for him to get those goals now. Maybe it's on his mind. Hopefully he can get past it sooner rather than later and forget about it."
Milner, 28, made his England debut against the Netherlands in 2009 and as one of the senior players in the squad, said the players had shown great character following their disappointing World Cup in Brazil when they were eliminated at the group stage.
England played well to beat Switzerland 2-0 in Basel in their first Euro 2016 qualifier last month.
"There are a lot of players who have played together at club and youth level and it is a very tight-knit group," Milner said.
"Coming out of bad times in a tournament is when you need your team spirit. The talk around the England team when we went to Switzerland was not great but that's when we showed our team spirit, got a great result and played very well.
"Teams with less spirit and togetherness might not have got that result."
It is inconceivable that England will not beat San Marino, the joint-worst team in the world ranked equal 208th by FIFA, and his fellow midfielder Adam Lallana of Liverpool said it was a chance for the team to build on the improvement they showed against Switzerland.
The 26-year-old Lallana, who should win his 10th cap, is still searching for his first England goal and is obviously relishing the opportunity.
"We have to remain focused on ourselves, that's vital. If we achieve that hopefully we can get a convincing win and six points because although Estonia is a difficult place to go to we are expected to win."
England have beaten San Marino 6-0, 7-1, 5-0 and 8-0 in their four previous meetings.
"The players will want to fill their boots and get goals, but you always want to be getting on the scoresheet and if we focus on our game, hopefully we can get a convincing win," Lallana said.
Unhappy goalkeeper Cech eyes Chelsea exit
Chelsea's Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech has said he would look for a solution to his plight if he continues to be left on the bench at the Premier League club.
Cech, who has been at Chelsea since 2004, has not started a Premier League game this season having fallen behind Thibaut Courtois in the pecking order after the Belgium goalkeeper returned from a loan spell at Atletico Madrid.
"I have not spoken to anyone, but I think they know me well enough at the club (Chelsea) to know that the situation is definitely not the way I would imagine,” Cech told Czech radio while on international duty.
“With the Euros (in 2016) and the national team in mind, there is no time for me to sit on the bench and not to play. If the situation will not start to improve for me, then I will want to solve it."
Cech, who is set to start for the Czech Republic against Turkey in a European Championship qualifier on Friday, featured in his only league game this season when he replaced the injured Courtois in the first half against Arsenal on Sunday.
