Rooney plays where he wants, says Allardyce

30-year-old adopted a deep-lying midfield role for much of the game against Slovakia

TRNAVA, SLOVAKIA: New England manager Sam Allardyce vowed to defer to captain Wayne Rooney over his positioning after starting life as the Three Lions manager with a last-gasp 1-0 win over Slovakia in World Cup qualifying.

Adam Lallana snatched a 95th-minute winner against 10-man Slovakia in Trnava on Sunday to prevent Allardyce from becoming the first England manager since Bobby Robson in 1982 not to win his first game.

Rooney, making a record 116th appearance for an England outfield player, adopted a deep-lying midfield role for much of the game despite Allardyce having said he would play in a number 10 position. But Allardyce said: "This is the most decorated outfield player in England. He's won everything at Man United, more or less, and at the Champions League and domestic level. He holds a lot more experience at international football than me as an international manager.

"So using his experience with a team, and playing as a team member, it's not for me to say where he's going to play. It's up to me to [ask]: 'Are you playing well in that position? And if you are playing well and contributing, that's great.'

"Yes, I'd like him to get forward a bit more. He's been a goal scorer all his life and I want him still to score goals, but he reads a game as he reads it. I must admit, he did play a little deeper than I thought he'd play. But I was pleased with his performance."

Rooney, 30, started the game in midfield alongside Jordan Henderson in a 4-1-4-1 system.

He pushed up into a more orthodox number 10 role at half-time, only to retreat to a midfield holding role after Allardyce sent on Dele Alli for Henderson.

The 30-year-old, who recently announced that he will retire from international football after World Cup 2018, has been playing as a number 10 for Manchester United this season and Allardyce indicated prior to Sunday's game that he would use him in a similar role. Adding to the confusion, Rooney himself told ITV he had played "where Sam wanted me to play".

England dominated possession against a stubbornly unadventurous Slovakia team, but thanks to the last-minute strike from Liverpool’s Lallana sealed a win which was called a ‘huge relief’ by the new manager Allardyce.

Slovakia coach Jan Kozak felt his team's display had set the tone for the rest of their Group F campaign. "If you want to be successful, you need to leave everything on the pitch," he said. "We, as a team, have the character and the enthusiasm. But the opposition were very tough.

"England are a good team, but they had fewer chances here than they did in the Euros. It was only when we went a man down that they created more."