Wayne Rooney is set to face another major test of his fragile temperament in England's final World Cup group tie, with Kim Milton Nielsen having been appointed to referee the clash against Poland.

Rooney was sent off by the Danish referee for sarcastically clapping him on being shown a yellow card during Manchester United's Champions League game against Villarreal on September 14.

Nielsen also reported Rooney for using foul language on his way off the pitch and the striker was therefore given a two-match Champions League suspension.

Rooney, still 19, is already banned for England's next group tie against Austria on October 8 at Old Trafford, having picked up his second booking of the qualifying campaign against Northern Ireland.

He was fortunate not to be sent off in Belfast, having followed a dangerous tackle on Keith Gillespie with another reckless foul on Chris Baird, before answering David Beckham's warnings to calm down with another four-letter outburst.

Rooney will return to the England side for the final qualifying tie against the Poles, which Sven-Goran Eriksson's side must win to make sure of their place at the World Cup finals, although a draw could be enough if other results go in their favour.

However, the teenager, who was substituted before half-time in a friendly in Spain last November to prevent him being sent off, still risks being suspended for either the play-offs or the start of the World Cup finals if he is sent off against Poland.

FIFA rules dictate any red card suspensions are carried over after the group stage, either into the play-offs or the next major tournament.

Nielsen has already shown he is not afraid to take a bold decision, having sent off David Beckham for petulantly flicking out at Diego Simeone during the 1998 World Cup finals.

After dismissing Rooney in Spain, the Danish official observed: ''When a player does this kind of thing to humiliate a referee, there is no option.

''I feel like I have done the right thing. I had a rough time before when I sent off Beckham but there was still no doubt in my mind after Rooney made that gesture to me. What else could I do?''

Eriksson must caution Rooney to control himself better, although he does not wish to remove the striker's natural aggression from his game.

Above all, England cannot afford to be without their most creative influence for the start of the World Cup finals or even the play-offs, with Eriksson having to find an alternative solution against Austria.

With Rooney suspended, the England coach may look towards Liverpool centre-forward Peter Crouch to partner Michael Owen up front.

With Alan Smith now playing in midfield for United and Jermain Defoe rather similar to the Newcastle striker, Crouch looks to be the favourite to play in attack in a return to a 4-4-2 formation.

Having made his debut on the summer mini-tour to the United States, albeit playing for just 72 minutes against Colombia, he offers Eriksson an entirely different option off the bench.

Eriksson's other options include turning to Andrew Johnson or Emile Heskey, while he could always persist with the 4-3-3 line-up that he used with little success against Wales and the Irish.

However, rather than using Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips either side of Owen, he may choose to look at Crouch