England captain Steven Gerrard has refuted claims made by Paul Scholes that striker Wayne Rooney is past his best.
Earlier this month, Scholes claimed that Rooney may have already peaked and questioned if manager Roy Hodgson had the "balls" to drop such a high-profile player during the World Cup.
However, Gerrard says that the Manchester United hitman - who scored 19 goals last season - has been "terrific" and believes that Scholes's assessment is well wide of the mark.
"Paul Scholes is wrong. [Rooney] has been Manchester United's best player at home and in Europe. He's been in terrific form," he told reporters.
"What I've seen from his performances in the United team, his form has been really positive.
"He's in a better frame of mind going into this tournament than he's had going into previous tournament when he's had injuries."
The Three Lions play three warm-up encounters before kicking off their campaign with a clash with Italy on June 14.
Shane Callaghan
