The Three Lions captain moved third on his country's list of all-time top scorers with two goals against Scotland on Tuesday and has Peter Shilton's appearances record in sight
England manager Roy Hodgson expects the possibility of breaking international records to keep Wayne Rooney motivated for years to come.
The captain scored twice in the 3-1 win over Scotland - his 101st international appearance - to move outright third on the all-time goals list for his country, after Hodgson's men beat Slovenia by the same scoreline on Saturday.
He is also now 24 behind goalkeeper Peter Shilton's record for Three Lions appearances and the manager is keen to watch him chase down that tally.
"If you ask me, I think [breaking England records] should be very important," Hodgson told the press. "I think milestones are important, I think records are important and it must be nice for [Rooney] to think that, if he carries on this way, soon he'll see his name at the top of the list.
"And he's got also a record number of caps in his sight but, if he was to get them, he'd have to keep his fitness, keep his form and keep playing for a few more years.
"But you know Wayne as well as I and you know that he's not going to be the first one to retire from football. All the time he can get out there, he'll keep his end up.
"Everything will be about the two goals but I thought there was an awful lot more to his play than his two goals," Hodgson added.
"I thought there were a lot of other very positive points to his game so I'd like to think that [he's going to continue at his peak] but I'm always very wary, as a coach, of trying to put too much responsibility on people.
"When they're doing well and when they're shouldering responsibility, I'm delighted but I'm always a bit wary that, if I'm not careful, my comments will push on even more responsibility.
"We've got to be a team and we've got to share it out and he certainly did terrifically tonight but there were a few other players out there I think took a lot of responsibility too."
England manager Roy Hodgson expects the possibility of breaking international records to keep Wayne Rooney motivated for years to come.
The captain scored twice in the 3-1 win over Scotland - his 101st international appearance - to move outright third on the all-time goals list for his country, after Hodgson's men beat Slovenia by the same scoreline on Saturday.
He is also now 24 behind goalkeeper Peter Shilton's record for Three Lions appearances and the manager is keen to watch him chase down that tally.
"If you ask me, I think [breaking England records] should be very important," Hodgson told the press. "I think milestones are important, I think records are important and it must be nice for [Rooney] to think that, if he carries on this way, soon he'll see his name at the top of the list.
"And he's got also a record number of caps in his sight but, if he was to get them, he'd have to keep his fitness, keep his form and keep playing for a few more years.
"But you know Wayne as well as I and you know that he's not going to be the first one to retire from football. All the time he can get out there, he'll keep his end up.
"Everything will be about the two goals but I thought there was an awful lot more to his play than his two goals," Hodgson added.
"I thought there were a lot of other very positive points to his game so I'd like to think that [he's going to continue at his peak] but I'm always very wary, as a coach, of trying to put too much responsibility on people.
"When they're doing well and when they're shouldering responsibility, I'm delighted but I'm always a bit wary that, if I'm not careful, my comments will push on even more responsibility.
"We've got to be a team and we've got to share it out and he certainly did terrifically tonight but there were a few other players out there I think took a lot of responsibility too."
