Sven-Goran Eriksson insisted he was relieved Wayne Rooney was back in an England shirt after England had booked their place in the knock-out stages of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory against Trinidad and Tobago.

Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard scored late goals, but only after Eriksson had brought Rooney off the bench to replace Michael Owen after 58 minutes.

The Manchester United striker, who had been out of action since fracturing a metatarsal almost seven weeks ago, had been given a clean bill of health in a statement by independent doctors earlier in the day.

Eriksson insisted he could use him from the start in the next match against Sweden if he so wanted.

"I'm relieved the saga of Rooney is over. We have talked about it every day. Not only in the press conferences but with the players. We are fed up with it. It's over and that's very good," said the Swede.

"We all know Rooney is not at 100% form. But if he had had that 30 minutes in the next match or the one after he would have been further behind.

"Now he's in it and can only be better and better.

"He did very well when he came on. He can't come out and be the best man on the pitch when he has not played for a long time. You have to play football to get match fit.

"The tackles are different, the tempo is higher. But all the squad are glad to see him on the pitch instead of talking about him.

"It was important the independent doctors said he was match fit. Now it's up to me to use him as I want to. There are no limits, it's up to me."

Eriksson believed the performance was an improvement on Saturday's 1-0 victory against Paraguay, although England squandered a series of chances.

Added Eriksson: "We showed a lot of patience. It is difficult to play a team with nine or 10 men behind the ball and they had discipline.

"If we had taken our chances it would have been a different match.

"I'm extremely happy with the result. We played well in the second half, good football. In the end the goals came from Crouch and Gerrard and we deserved it."

Trinidad and Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker admitted England deserved to win but said they would need to play much better against the world's top sides.

"We are disappointed, but most of the game was in the hands of England. It was a battle to survive. Our guys had a lot of courage," he said.

"When they meet better teams, though, England will have to show more patience and use their good guys in midfield."

He spared a thought, however, for the return of Rooney.

"I'm happy Rooney is back," he said.

"He's a great player. My players are disappointed they lost but they know they did what they could. They played with lots of courage and passion."