GARETH Southgate revealed that Bradford-born Fabian Delph will captain England in the friendly against the United States at Wembley tonight.

A lot of the attention in the build-up has been around the decision to award Wayne Rooney the chance to wave farewell to the international scene, and while England's record-goalscorer will take the armband at some point on the night, it will be the former Bantams junior and Leeds United player who leads his country for the first time.

"Fabian is captain tonight, and the players are keen that Wayne wears the number 10 and we believe that is a fitting tribute," said Southgate.

"Fabian is captaining his country for the first time and it is brilliant reward for him. He is an outstanding player and outstanding person.

"He is a huge leader within our group and I have really enjoyed working with him. You don't give the England captaincy to someone unless you really think they can carry it and he has those outstanding attributes.

"He was one of the big reasons we were successful (in the summer)."

Manchester City midfielder Delph - who was a pupil at Tong Leadership Academy between 2001 and 2006 - confirmed that he would hand the armband over to Rooney when he makes his 120th and final international appearance.

He said: "When I first came into the England set-up, Wayne was captain and welcomed me and made me feel at home. As soon as he comes on, I will be giving him that armband back.

"We will give him a guard of honour. It will be a huge night for Wayne and we want to make it special for him."