BURTON TRENT: Goalkeeper Joe Hart will retain his place in the England squad despite being dropped by Manchester City, national coach Sam Allardyce said on Monday.

Hart, 29, is yet to play for City this season after his new manager Pep Guardiola decided to install Willy Caballero as his first-choice goalkeeper.

Hart, capped 63 times, endured a torrid Euro 2016 with England, but Allardyce will stand by him when he names his squad on Sunday for his side's opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in Slovakia on September 4.

“In terms of picking Joe and the goalkeeper that he is, he will be in the squad, definitely,” Allardyce told Sky Sports News at England's St George's Park training base in Burton, central England.

“What do we do? I won't really know that until I speak to Joe and that will be the same with most of the players when they arrive.

“The problem for any player you want to select for England, not just in isolation, but in total areas, is that it will be a concern if a player doesn't play for his team.

“I think that you have to have your doubts about that. But before I meet up with Joe, I don't really know where he lies in that process at the moment.

“I think that when we pick the first squad and then the lads come here, there will be some lads that don't play on a regular basis.”

Allardyce, who succeeded Roy Hodgson after the Euro, also revealed that he had not yet decided whether to allow Wayne Rooney to continue as England captain.

“We will announce the squad, then we'll meet up, and the first thing I would probably choose to tell the public and the media would be who is going to be the captain, so we can get that one out of the way,” he said.

“The team selection and the first XI will be later on in the week. He's (Rooney) the most successful England player for the last decade.

“He's broken every record at league level, Champions League level and international level, so yes, we should talk very much about Wayne and about how good he is, what a fantastic player he is and what a really, really good captain he is.”