England skipper Steven Gerrard is confident that Wayne Rooney will ignore off-the-field allegations about his private life and play to his best against Switzerland. Despite a much-improved performance from the Manchester United star against Bulgaria in England's 4-0 win on Friday, the allegations could not have come at a worse time for a player so unusually out-of-sorts during this summer's World Cup.

"I've spoken to him today at lunchtime and trained with him yesterday and Wayne's been fine," Gerrard told a press conference.

"He's looking forward to the game and looking forward to playing well.

"Sometimes if you've got an issue off the field football can be a release, and once the game starts I'm sure Wayne will be focused on playing well himself and doing well for the team so we get three points.

"You expect big performances from Wayne Rooney every time he goes out, he's a world class player.

"Yesterday he trained normal so I expect another big performance from Wayne like every time I play with him.

"Every player understands the responsibility of being a footballer at the top level. But on the other hand we're human as well and along the way we're going to make mistakes.

"I've made some through my career, it's just how you react to them mistakes."