Stevie G's penalty pledge

Steven Gerrard has insisted he won't let England down from the penalty spot if Fabio Capello's men are involved in a World Cup shoot-out this summer.

Gerrard - along with Frank Lampard and Jamie Carragher - missed from the spot as England crashed out to Portugal at the quarter-final stage four years ago, but he is confident history won't repeat itself if penalties are required in South Africa.

"I think, having missed the penalty, I'll probably be a bit more composed next time and take my time a bit more," Gerrard said.

"I'll work that little bit harder in training to make sure I know what I'm going to be doing. It all happened really fast in 2006 and I felt after the penalties that I should have taken my time more.

"It is massive pressure but that's what we've got to do, we've got to try and handle that pressure. I didn't handle it in 2006, so, if I'm put in that situation again, I will try and deal with the pressure a lot better.

"But it's difficult, it's not like taking a normal penalty in practice - you've got so much responsibility. You know all the fans back home are watching and, when you're tired, when you're under so much pressure, that's when mistakes happen and that's what happened to me in 2006."