Gerrard happy to talk to Frank

the 23-year-old Liverpool man and his Stamford Bridge counterpart are undoubtedly the best two midfielders in the country heading into the opening clash with defending France, and Gerrard feels the pair can find the right blend between attack and defence in the England engine room.

Gerrard said: "The manager's told us that only one of us can go (forward) and that we have to be really disciplined.

"But Frank and I are ready to try and make that work. It's about communication but we've got experience and we do know when to go and when to stay.

"The most important thing is that we don't both get carried away and leave a big gap for their important players to exploit."

While the 6-1 thrashing of minnows Iceland hardly proved a telling test ahead of the meeting with the French, Gerrard believes the burgeoning relationship between himself and Lampard took a huge step forward in that game.

He added: It's going really well. It's surprised me, with us both liking to go forward, but the good thing about both players is that we can defend as well.

"It's a question of getting the mixture right. It worked well against Iceland and we've done a couple of things in training and we're confident that me and Frank can hit it off."