Gerrard: We had to improve

But the Liverpool star stressed the importance of not getting carried away by two Euro 2012 qualifying wins over Bulgaria at Wembley and Switzerland in Basle.

England are already looking favourites to qualify for the finals after Tuesday night's 3-1 win away to a highly respected Swiss side.

Gerrard said: "I think all the players realised that over in South Africa it wasn't good enough so we needed to regroup.

"We need to stick together and try and raise the performance levels. I think over the last two games we have certainly done that.

"We know we have to put it right but it's important not to get carried away by these two results. It's going to be a long time and a long process."

Gerrard was full of praise for Wayne Rooney after he put off-field allegations to one side with his first England goal for 12 months and another excellent performance.

He said: "All the talk in the build-up was about Wayne but we showed a great togetherness and the early goal for Wayne did him the world of good.

"Over the two games he's been fantastic for us. I thought we tore them apart at times and Wayne played a big part in that."

A further positive for Capello was another sparkling display by Adam Johnson, who is targeting a starting spot after scoring for the second time in four days as a sub.

The Manchester City winger scored the second in Basle after opening his international account against Bulgaria.

He said: "You want to do your best when you come on and try to push to get into the starting XI."