Wayne Rooney: Gareth Southgate in pole position to become permanent England manager

Wayne Rooney has backed Gareth Southgate to be named England manager on a permanent basis after the Three Lions swept aside arch rivals Scotland 3-0 at Wembley.

Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill all got on the scoresheet as England made it three wins out of four in their World Cup qualifying group.

The FA will formally begin the process to name a permanent candidate for the England job after the friendly against Spain on 15 November, with Southgate taking over the role on an interim basis after Sam Allardyce's sacking in September.

England have beaten Malta and Scotland and played out a goalless draw with Slovenia in their three matches under Southgate.

"Southgate has done brilliant with the U21s and he's come in and done a really good job," Rooney told Sky Sports.

"He's got two wins from three and a good point from the last game in Slovenia. It's down to the FA now and he's put himself in pole position and I'm sure the right decision will be made."

Speaking after the Scotland match, former England U-21 boss Southgate said he enjoyed managing the senior side.

"It's a unique situation. I'm not sure anybody else has had this many games for everybody to assess what you're doing," he was reported as saying.

"I just wanted to win this game because I know what it means to this country. It was a big night for our players to come through this pressure environment given the recent history."

England are two points ahead of Slovenia at the top of Group F and face Lithuania in their next World Cup qualifier at Wembley in March next year.

Liverpool striker Sturridge, who opened the scoring for England against Scotland, said the players enjoyed working with Southgate.

"He's relaxed the camp and stamped his authority on the tactics and with his backroom staff," he said.

"I think he's got a good chance to get the job. All the lads are very relaxed with him and we like the way things are going."