Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has paid tribute to Liverpool rival Steven Gerrard.
Rooney hailed Gerrard as his biggest England influence and said he was equipped to inherit the armband from the Liverpool midfielder upon his retirement having studied him close up.
"It's well-known that the two of us have been close and he's been a massive help to me," said Rooney.
"Even when he was captain I believed that after he was captain I'd get the nod to take over from him, so I watched how he prepared himself, how he prepared for games, how he was around the hotel and in the media.
"I took a lot from him."
