Wayne Rooney WILL wear the England No 10 shirt when he makes his international farewell against USA at Wembley on Thursday night.
The country's all-time leading goalscorer will bow out of international football in style on Thursday night - and as Sportsmail revealed last Tuesday, he'll do it in the shirt he is synonymous with.
Gareth Southgate - who is set to hand Callum Wilson, Lewis Dunk and Jadon Sancho their full debuts on Thursday night - confirmed: 'The players are very keen that Wayne wears the No 10.
'We believe that is a fitting tribute - I think that we have spoken a lot as a group about doing things our own way over the last two years, we did that right through the summer.
'Harry Kane came to see me and said: "Look, we don't think it would be right for him to come on wearing a shirt he hasn't worn". Part of the game is to pay tribute to what he's done. Players always look at how they would like to be treated in that situation.
'I know last week we said it would be unlikely because he'd be on the bench, but sometimes when you have discussions and are able to think through about what we stand for as a group, those moments it's good for the players to have an opinion.
'We have a lot of respect for our former players, the legacy part of what we do is huge, we have the shirt for this moment in time but we have to honour it and make sure that it is passed onto the next generation.
'All of our group have huge respect for Wayne and they feel it is fitting his last game should be in his No 10.
'When he puts that shirt on his wall somewhere at the end of his career, it is going to be a special night and the 10 is the number he has.' Fabian Delph will captain England for the first time on Thursday night - but Rooney will take the armband when he comes on.
Sportsmail revealed on Tuesday that England's senior players backed plans to pass the captaincy on to Rooney.
And Delph confirmed: 'When I first came into the England set up Wayne was captain and he welcomed me, put his arm around me and made me feel at home.
'As soon as he comes on tomorrow I will be giving him that armband back.
'It is going to be a huge night for Wayne and we want to make it special for him.
'We spoke in camp and we think it is important to honour the achievements he has made throughout his career. We are really looking forward to doing that for him tomorrow.' And to top off a special night for Rooney, the 33-year-old, accompanied by his four children, will walk onto the pitch under a guard of honour ahead of kick-off before taking his seat on the bench.
Football Association chairman Greg Clarke will also make a special presentation to the former Manchester United striker before game starts.
And Southgate, who is also set to hand goalkeeper Alex McCarthy his England debut, insists Rooney deserves the hoopla despite the criticism levelled at the idea of handing the England's most-capped outfield player a 120th and final international appearance.
Southgate, who played with Rooney for England, believes the DC United star is one of the top three players he has shared a pitch with at international level.
'There were some brilliant players I played with across the 10 years and it doesn't seem right to leave the [David] Beckhams, [Teddy] Sheringhams out of a list,' added Southgate.
'But [Paul] Gascoigne, [Paul] Scholes and [Wayne] Rooney (were the stand outs). I played with him at the start of his career.
'But for him to go on and overtake Sir Bobby Charlton's record and Gary Lineker's record is incredible.' Southgate will rest his top stars ahead of Sunday's crucial UEFA Nations League clash against Croatia - with the likes of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Jordan Henderson all set to start on the bench on Thursday night.
Indeed, Southgate is ready to go with an inexperienced starting XI that will likely see Brighton central defender Dunk make his debut alongside Michael Keane in the heart of England's defence.
Luke Shaw is set to start at left-back - but Southgate confirmed on Wednesday night that he was waiting for the all-clear from medics to select the defender after he sustained a minor injury.
Delph will anchor a midfield that is also set to feature Harry Winks. Bournemouth striker Wilson is set to start for his England debut.
He is expected to be flanked in attack by Sancho. Jordan Pickford is set to start in goal with McCarthy is due to replace him at half-time.
