Captain fantastic Wayne Rooney is the finished article, says Roy Hodgson after two-goal striker puts Scotland to the sword

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Roy Hodgson claimed the England captaincy has turned Wayne Rooney into the finished article after he struck twice in a 3-1 victory over Scotland.

Rooney’s masterful performance was the difference as England finished the year on a high at Celtic Park by recording their sixth successive victory.

The England forward has now scored 46 times for his country and is three away from equalling Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 49.

Wayne Rooney celebrates his second goal to help England claim a richly-deserved win in Glasgow

Team-mates flock to their skipper after the Manchester United man made it 2-0 at Celtic Park

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored England’s opening goal and Hull defender Andrew Robertson netted for Gordon Strachan’s side.

There were injury scares for Luke Shaw (groin) and Danny Welbeck (hamstring), but Hodgson claimed the pair would be fit for the Arsenal-Manchester United clash at the Emirates on Saturday evening.

Hodgson said: ‘It has been a good three or four days for him. Slovenia was a great occasion, he has added to that. We knew Scotland would be a hard place to come and win.

‘I can’t speak for Wayne but if you ask me they should be very important.

‘Records are very important and if he carries on this way he will soon be on the top of the list. He has a record number of caps in sight and if he keeps his form and fitness he will get here. He won’t retire from football.

‘In the last two years he has not become a worse player and his game is improving all the time.

‘He takes responsibility, everything will be about the two goals. There was a lot of other positive points to his game, I would like to think he is better but I am wary as a coach of putting too much responsibility on his shoulders.’

Roy Hodgson makes his point to his two-goal skipper during England's sixth consecutive win

Both sets of fans contributed to a bristling atmosphere as the Auld Enemies contested a fine game

Hodgson claimed he did not hear England fans singing anti-IRA songs during a 15 minute spell in the first half, but admitted he did not condone it.

He added: ‘I was aware that the crowd was tremendously supportive and I even heard one about Gordon Strachan but of course I don’t condone the chanting.’

Hodgson’s side were comfortable winners here and he claims the team are continuing to learn from their World Cup experience.

He added: ‘I can't think of many periods in the game where we were losing control. Our defending was sharp and when we lost the ball.

‘I don’t know that they needed to prove to me that they are real men, this is a goldfish bowl under the magnifying glass. There were some good individual performances.

‘If you watch the game against Slovenia, we played the same intensity, that is what we are trying to do. There was a moment when we lost it for a few minutes.

Rooney's double means he is three goals behind Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time England record

Rooney completes the scoring with a fine finish to quell all hopes of a famous Scottish comeback

Strachan admitted his team were outclassed.

The beaten Scotland chief admitted the number of Champions League players in the England team made all the difference.

He said: ‘Without the ball they intensity they played at was fantastic. It spooked our players a bit. They came for us.

‘We thought they would sit and wait. They are a team full of Champions League players. We were mentally fatigued from Friday.

Gordon Strachan (right) admitted the best team won on the night and that Scotland let themselves down

‘The team that pressurised better was England, the team that played better was England.

‘This was a good England team. To beat them we would have had to have ten out of 11 players playing well.

‘It was a one-off game tonight and the priority was the Republic. But to deal with this game is difficult and we have to deal with it. We have let ourselves down.

‘We know we can play better but we have to be at our maximum against top teams. That was the best performance by England against us for a long time.’

VIDEO Hodgson praises attack as Rooney approaches record