STEVEN GERRARD HAS defended fellow England star Wayne Rooney against accusations that his poor performances led to the country’s Euro 2012 exit at the hands of Italy.

Rooney was banned for the first two games of the tournament and, although he scored the winner over Ukraine on his return, was below his best in both matches that he played.

There have since been calls for the Manchester United striker to no longer be an automatic starter for Roy Hodgson’s side, but Gerrard insists that the 26-year-old is too good to be dropped.

“I just think that ever since Wayne has been around, and because of his performances in Euro 2004, there is an expectation that he comes to these tournaments and wins them all on his own,” Gerrard told The Sun.

“I just think that’s unfair – especially when it goes wrong and people then point to Wayne and his performances and blame him.

“But the responsibility has to be on all 23 players. It’s unfair to look at Wayne and say because he didn’t play well it’s the reason why we haven’t won.

“I’ve mentioned on many occasions that at this level the biggest thing is to play without expectation, without fear.

“So it’s only normal that at times Wayne is brought down because of that expectation, because everyone expects and wants him to do well.”

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