The knee injury that ruled Wayne Rooney out of England’s 2-2 draw with Spain on Tuesday was picked up after the national team captain slipped on a bottle inside the Wembley changing rooms, it has emerged.

Rooney played the full 90 minutes in the 3-0 victory over Scotland last Friday, but manager Gareth Southgate revealed the following day that his skipper had picked up a knee injury and would start the friendly against Spain on the substitutes’ bench as a result. Come Sunday, Rooney had been ruled out of the match completely and sent back to Manchester United, although he would have much bigger problems on his hands come Monday as The Sun published photographs of him drunk after a late-night drinking session at the team’s hotel on Saturday night.

While the fallout from the international break has focused around Rooney’s responsibility as captain – he has issued a public apology for his actions – and led to suggestions that he could even be stripped of wearing the armband, The Times has revealed the strange circumstances that led to the injury.

Rooney is reported to have slipped on a bottle containing an energy drink when he returned into the home dressing room at Wembley on Friday night, and while he is not being blamed at all for the freak accident, it does expose the 31-year-old to further embarrassment in a forgettable week.

The sight of the Manchester United captain intoxicated at a wedding after-party at The Grove Hotel in Watford has caused widespread debate over the seriousness of his actions, with many ex-professional footballers leaping to Rooney’s defence along with Premier League managers Jürgen Klopp, Sean Dyche and Mauricio Pochettino.

Others though have condemned Rooney’s action given he is supposed to be a role model as the most high-profile figure in English football, and a further report released by The Sun on Friday claims Rooney’ ignored Southgate’s instruction for him to call it a night and continued drinking into the early hours of the morning.

Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Breakthrough goal - 2002 Five days before his 17th birthday, Wayne Rooney scored a wonder goal against Arsenal in 2002 as the world realised his talent. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Switch to United - 2004 A £25.6m fee was soon agreed with Manchester United - despite interest from Newcastle - as Rooney switched Goodison Park for Old Trafford in 2004. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures On the international stage - 2004 It got better for the powerful striker when he scored four goals in as many matches at Euro 2004. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures The stunning goals continue - 2005 It wasn't long before Rooney had become a mainstay in Sir Alex Ferguson's United side, typified by his olley against Newcastle at Old Trafford. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures The red mist descends - 2006 Always a cantankerous player, Rooney's demons haunted him at the 2006 World Cup in Germany as he was sent off for a stamp against Portugal. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures First of many titles - 2007 Rooney had to wait until 2007 for his first taste of Premier League glory, scoring 14 goals as United lifted the title in 2008. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures European glory - 2008 A year later, Rooney was invaluable to Ferguson again as the north west outfit defeated Chelsea in Moscow on penalties to win the Champions League. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Controversy returns - 2010 As England struggled to a 0-0 draw against Algeria in South Africa, the former Everton striker told supporters exactly what he thought about them into camera. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures World Cup woe - 2012 Despite finally scoring for England at a World Cup in 2014, Rooney was unable to prevent a torrid group stage exit under Roy Hodgson in Brazil. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Contract talks - 2012 Rooney twice risked incurring the wrath of Ferguson during their time together, famously truning down a contract offer and threatening to leave until better terms were presented. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Success continues - 2013 In Ferguson's final season in charge, Rooney helped lift another Premier League title in 2013 alongside strike partner Robin van Persie. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Record breaker - 2015 In 2015, Rooney broke Sir Bobby Charlton's England goalscoring record with his 50th international goal from a penalty in a Euro 2016 qualifying match against Switzerland. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Switch to midfield - 2016 As Rooney began to age, then-United manager Louis van Gaal switched Rooney into midfielder where he helped the club lift the FA Cup in the Dutchman's last game in charge. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Mourinho era begins - 2017 Rooney lifts the League Cup trophy, the first major success under Jose Mourinho. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Record breaker, again - 2017 Rooney became United's all-time top goalscorer, beating Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing record, after a last-gasp equaliser at Stoke City Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures European triumph - 2017 Rooney comes on in the closing minutes as United beat Ajax 2-0 to win the Europa League. Getty Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Return to Goodison - 2017 Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring against Stoke at Goodison Park, his first goal after returning to Everton (AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Wayne Rooney's career in pictures Retirement from international football - 2017 The England captain hangs up his boots in September 2017. "Every time I was selected as a player or captain was a real privilege and I thank everyone who helped me," he said. "But I believe now is the time to bow out." Getty

Southgate defended Rooney following Tuesday’s match and said his absence was solely down to his knee injury, but his position to sanction the striker over the ordeal is somewhat confused given that Southgate does not know if he will be named permanent manager after taking charge of the national team on a four-match interim basis.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn was cautious in his approach to how the governing body will handle Rooney and any subsequent disciplinary action, as he admitted that they will look into the case but are keen no to blow it out of proportion. Rooney was not alone in drinking that night, with teammate Phil Jagielka also pictured while it was reported that a number of the coaching and medical staff were also out along with an FA official. This incensed United manager Jose Mourinho, who believes that Rooney has been made a scapegoat, and has led Glenn to lead an investigation into those who were reported to be present at the after-party.

“We are getting a proper investigation into what actually went on and whether FA staff were involved, yes or no,” Glenn said on Thursday. “It’s disappointing and it’s appropriate that he apologised as it doesn’t set a great tone for the England captain, but I don’t want to over- dramatise this either.

The 31-year-old's England future could now be in jeopardy (Getty)

“Why on earth you would be doing that given there is a team agreement around alcohol consumption when on camp . . . so there would be questions asked for sure.”