Criticism inspires us –Rooney

Wayne Rooney
| credits: http://images.performgroup.com

Skipper Wayne Rooney admits the criticism of England’s performance against Norway is inspiring the players to perform better when they take on Switzerland in the opening European Qualifier on Monday.

Roy Hodgson’s side laboured to a 1-0 win at Wembley on Wednesday evening in a display that failed to exorcise the memories of a disastrous World Cup campaign in Brazil in the summer, Sky Sports reports.

But Rooney, who scored England’s first goal in a 3-1 Euro 2012 qualifying win in Basel four years ago, insists the young squad are determined to improve and prove their critics wrong.

“There is the determination,” he said. “We’re a tight-knit group and we’re working hard together to get the best out of each other. We’ve got a lot of quality in the team and it’s about that quality coming together.

“It’s a nice game to play in. It’s probably the most difficult game of the group and we want to do well and come out of it with a good result. We are ready.

“We’ve had a bit more time through the week to prepare for the game and we’re excited. It’s going to be a big test but we feel we have the quality to do well.

“Four years ago was a long time ago – it was a completely different team and we have to look to the future. There’s no point looking back – it was a good result and good performance four years ago, but we’re focused on this game and that game is irrelevant.”