Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has affirmed that striker Wayne Rooney will not be his captain in the short-term despite the England ace skippering the Three Lions.

Rooney captained a second string England side who were defeated 1-0 by Brazil in last weekend’s friendly in Qatar.

Sir Alex Ferguson himself has already twice named the 24-year-old as captain in this season’s UEFA Champions League games, fuelling speculation that the former Everton ace is ready to follow in the footsteps of Bryan Robson and Roy Keane, in captaining the Red Devils.

However, Fergie has poured cold water on such talk and maintained that Rooney will not be made permanent skipper any-time soon.

"I have never really been an advocate of centre-forwards being captain," the Scot told the Press Association.

"You can see the qualities Wayne would give as a captain. He is determined, hungry and has a desire to do well.

"He always tries no matter how your team is playing. He will give 100 per cent.

"These are wonderful qualities for a captain. It exemplifies the spirit of the whole team and players can take that on board.

"But Wayne is not in my thinking to be captain at the moment because he is young and I prefer older players and I prefer midfielders or centre-backs," he added.

Rooney will be on show come Saturday tea-time as the Red Devils seek to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea prior to the international break when they host Everton at Old Trafford.