Wayne Rooney: England striker admits he defied Roy Hodgson's plan and took Harry Kane off corners

Three Lions captain took the decision upon himself to replace Spurs striker as his country's corner taker

Rooney and Hodgson at a press conference during the tournament (Getty)

Wayne Rooney has admitted he defied Roy Hodgson’s tactical plan during Euro 2016 by going against the former manager’s demands for Harry Kane to take corners during England’s failed campaign in France.

England captain Rooney, who has confirmed that he will retire from international football following the World Cup in Russia in 2018, will lead the national team into a new era under Sam Allardyce in the qualifier against Slovakia on Sunday after being told he will retain the armband by Hodgson’s successor.

Russia will be the 30-year-old’s seventh major tournament with England, one which the Manchester United forward admits will be his ‘last opportunity’ to succeed on the international stage.

But with England still poring over the wreckage of Euro 2016, Rooney has revealed that it was his decision to abandon Hodgson’s bewildering tactic of deploying Tottenham forward Kane on corner-taking duty during the 2-1 victory over Wales in Lens.

“Harry was taking corners,” Rooney said. “Roy obviously decided for Harry to take corners.

“I felt at the time that he was the top goalscorer in the Premier League and he’s a big lad in the box.

Kane and Rooney exchange words during England's first Euro 2016 match against Russia (Getty)

“It was Roy’s decision, but after the first game (against Russia), I don’t think Harry wanted to take the corners so I went and took them.

“I felt I probably should have taken them anyway. He’s probably better in the air than me and for the last season he had been scoring a lot of goals. So that was it really.”

Nothing was ever made of it. I don’t think Roy had an issue with that.

&#13; <p>Wayne Rooney</p>&#13;

Despite Rooney admitting to taking the decision upon himself to send Kane into the penalty area for corners, he insists that players should be free to act off the cuff on the pitch.

“I think players have the right to make decisions on the pitch,” Rooney said. “You make a decision on what you see on the pitch.

“Nothing was ever made of it. I don’t think Roy had an issue with that.”