England manager Roy Hodgson believes captaincy has made Wayne Rooney better.
The Manchester United striker, who also skippers his club, assumed the armband following the international retirement of Steven Gerrard last summer.
And Hodgson says he has seen a marked improvement in the 29-year-old since taking on the role.
"Wayne has been fantastic all the time I've been with the national team, but I would say he has stepped up a notch in terms of being an England player since he got the captaincy," the England boss told American radio station Sirius.
"He took that honour very seriously. He researched the role a little bit, taken in experience of playing under previous captains and he works very closely with me and the players but most importantly of all, he plays well for the team.
"The good fortune for us is he has come up with goals – I am thinking of the Estonia game when he wasn't having a wonder game – even when his actual performance hasn't been as good as he can be.
"I think we are lucky that the void we thought might exist after Steven Gerrard has been filled."
Wayne Rooney celebrates his goal against Slovenia
With England top of their Euro 2016 qualifying group with a 100 per cent record, there is already a growing expectation on the team, but despite all their success in the build-up, Hodgson knows he has to find a way to perform when it comes to the crunch.
"It doesn't matter what our ranking is or if we have a young team – we are expected to win, so there is no point trying to play down expectations," he added.
"What I hope is the team, I believe, is capable of playing some very good football and will be capable of producing those performances at a European Championships, which in the past has not always been the case.
"A major task for us will be to make sure we can produce when push comes to shove in a knock-out tournament."
