Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney pulled together his Three Lions players for a stirring speech yesterday.

Hodgson revealed his captain delivered a rousing speech to the squad ahead of tonight's Wembley send-off against Portugal.

The England boss refused to spill the beans and go into detail on what exactly Rooney told his team-mates.

But he said: “In the meeting last night Wayne stood up and gave them a bit of a benefit of his experience, saying this is how it was, this is what I experienced.

“Wayne speaking wasn't planned in the sense that we spent ages planning it, but I did give him some warning.

“I asked if he'd mind. The message would be powerful coming from him, and he agreed straight away, albeit with a bit of time to think about what he was going to say... he had an afternoon."

Asked what Rooney's message was Hodgson said: “No. I've told you enough."