Wayne Rooney has warned Derby’s unvaccinated players that they risk losing their places for good due to England’s isolation rules.

Anyone who is not fully vaccinated has to isolate for 10 days if they come into contact with a confirmed case of Covid — regardless of whether they have the virus themselves.

This has forced healthy players across the EFL to miss dozens of games and, while Rooney will not try to influence his players’ stance on vaccination directly, he hinted it could affect their careers.

The former England captain said: ‘You could end up giving up your spot in the starting XI and have to fight extremely hard to get it back.

‘(Vaccination) is an individual’s decision. Of course I want all the players to be vaccinated, but it’s their decision and if it means they have to isolate for 10 days, there is nothing we can do.’

Around a quarter of EFL players do not intend to get vaccinated, according to a recent survey.