Steven Gerrard has sung the praises of Wayne Rooney ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

“Wayne and I are good friends anyway, and before games we are always talking about where we want each other to go,” said Gerrard. “There is a good understanding. Wayne is a fantastic player with great movement, and Fabio has given me a licence to get forward from the left and go inside. He wants me to link with Wayne. It’s easy to link with top players and I think everyone in the country is hoping he can take the form he is in at the moment into the World Cup. I hope so too, because if he does, I’m confident we can do well.”