IT will be interesting to see if Wayne Rooney is remembered as fondly as Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Linker in 20 years’ time.

I suspect he will be. He only needs four more goals to overtake both and become the first player to score 50 for England following his brace against Scotland, which was a fine way to mark his 101st appearance.

Still only 29, he is the youngest player to reach a century of England caps and will now be aiming to become his country’s highest scorer and most capped player.

It is only matter of time before he gets past Sir Bobby’s haul of 49 goals and former Saints goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s 125 caps.

At one time, I don’t think anyone thought Shilts’ record would be beaten, certainly by an outfield player.

But Rooney is still playing so well for club and country there is no reason why he cannot break both records – injuries permitting.

So why is it he isn’t given the same level of respect other legends have been?

He could be described as a rough diamond. During his early days at club level he often attracted newspaper headlines away from the sports section.

His image away from the game was not like that of Sir Bobby or Lineker, but I think the praise he undoubtedly deserves will certainly come in years to come, when people look at England’s goals and caps records.

Wayne may also eclipse Sir Bobby’s Manchester United goals record.

Third on the list with 219, he is only 18 behind Denis Law and 30 adrift of Sir Bobby.

What we are seeing now is the realisation of all his achievements starting to be acknowledged.

For anyone to win a century of international caps is impressive, but even more so when it is a forward, with all due respect to defenders and goalkeepers.

Wayne obviously loves playing for club and country.

He wears the captain’s armband, given to him by Roy Hodgson, with pride and has become a good example to young players.

Wayne appears to be a dedicated family man and while he may not be getting the credit he deserves at present I’m sure that will come.

His style of play is less ‘smooth’ than that of Sir Bobby and Lineker, but he rolls his sleeves up and gets stuck in.

To his credit, he doesn’t wait for others to do the hard work and pass to him. That’s probably why he’s got into rough and tumbles on the pitch.

But he’s matured with age and responsibility and the goals keep coming – he has a record of one every other game for club and country and does not complain publicly about being asked to play out of position.

He’s old school in so far as he’ll play anywhere.

It should also be pointed out that Rooney has probably spent more minutes on the pitch than England’s most capped outfield player.

While undoubtedly a quality player, many of David Beckham’s 115 appearances were brief appearances as a substitute.

It would be interesting to know how many minutes Rooney has spent playing for England compared with the likes of Beckham and Frank Lampard. That’s one for the people who work out how often Arsene Wenger raises a smile or Sir Alex Ferguson’s gum-chewing time!

All being well, he will reach a half century of England goals at some point in 2015 and be our most capped player before the 2018 World Cup – when he can give the diamond a polish.