England captain Wayne Rooney believes the positive mood surrounding the squad ahead of EURO 2016 can only help the Three Lions in France.
Roy Hodgson’s side emerged from their qualifying campaign with aplomb by winning all ten of their matches and with one of the youngest teams to boot.
And as this summer’s tournament draws closer, with players competing for their places in the final 22 as the domestic season comes to an end, the Manchester United star admits he can’t wait for the competition in and amongst a strong-spirited squad.
Rooney scored from the spot against San Marino to equal Sir Bobby Charlton's England goalscoring record
"The atmosphere’s brilliant," he revealed.
"We’ve done really well in qualifying and it’s great to see the young lads doing well for their clubs and pushing for selection.
"There’s a lot of excitement among the players and I’m sure that will build as the tournament gets closer.
"We’ve just got to think positively and be excited about it. We know we’re an exciting team at the minute and if we can take our recent form into the tournament we can do well.
"It’s a young team and obviously as captain you want to get a strong bond between everyone and I really feel there is that at the moment, everyone gets on really well."
Rooney himself missed out on the recent warm-up games, which saw an impressive 3-2 victory over Germany in Berlin and a narrow 2-1 home defeat against the Netherlands at Wembley, due to a knee injury picked up in February.
Watch highlights of England's win over Germany
He’s not alone in being one of several experienced players fighting to be fit for the Euros, but the 30-year-old is philosophical about it and already back in light training with a potential appearance for United’s Under-21 side lined up before stepping up his recovery.
"Obviously you don’t want to get injured but sometimes it happens and, to be honest, with the intensity of the Premier League you’re always carrying something," he explained, in an interview with the PFA's 4 The Player magazine.
"I feel we’re in a good position and we’ve got players hopefully coming back from injury, the likes of [Jack] Wilshere, [Danny] Welbeck and [Daniel] Sturridge who will only add more quality.
"And there’s Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, all really exciting, young players coming into the team, attacking players with lots of pace.
"So we know we’ve got a very good squad and if we can get everyone fit for the tournament we’ll be strong."
The qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 was certainly a memorable one for Rooney on a personal level.
As Hodgson’s captain, he was a key player throughout and etched his name into England history last September by equalling and then beating Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record in the wins against San Marino and Switzerland respectively.
Rooney is congratulated on his record-breaking goal against Switzerland at Wembley
Those achievements were recognised when he was named as England's Player of the Year for 2015, but since then the continued emergence of players such as Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Dele Alli has seen his position in the team become the subject of debate as competition for places heats up.
But the former Everton man insists he can play a firm part in England’s campaign in France alongside the emerging talent.
"I’ve still got a few years left I feel, and you never know," he said.
"I’ll keep trying to, first and foremost, help the team be successful and if I can score the goals to help achieve that then that’ll be great."
As for those spot-kicks in Sarravalle and at Wembley, Rooney recalls the varying degree of nerves he felt as he stepped up.
Watch the moment Wayne Rooney became England's record goalscorer
"The penalty that equalled it against San Marino, I was quite nervous because the pitch was terrible," he laughed.
"I was thinking ‘just don’t slip whatever you do’ so it wasn’t the greatest penalty but I hit the target and thankfully it went in.
"Then against Switzerland, it was a tough game and we got the penalty late on, so I knew what a big moment it was and what a feeling I’d have if I scored and broke the record."
You can read the full interview with Wayne in the PFA's 4 The Player magazine, which you can download here.
