Echo: Henderson hails Shelvey

Jordan Henderson has lavished praise on Jonjo Shelvey as his Liverpool FC colleague begins to make an impact at international level.

Shelvey impressed during the Under-21s' 2-0 European Championship qualifying win over Azerbaijan last week, netting his first goal for Stuart Pearce's side in the process, in only his fifth cap.

Henderson, who now boasts 17 appearances at this level as well as five senior caps, believes the 20-year-old has simply picked up where he left off with Liverpool.

"Jonjo was very good," said Henderson.

"He played just off the striker and got on the ball a lot. He made some good passes and played a big part in both of the goals, setting up the first and scoring near the end.

"I thought he was brilliant. He's been like that throughout pre-season at Liverpool, so I hope he can carry on like that."

Henderson is expected to continue as captain for Pearce's side as they take on Norway at Chesterfield's B2net Stadium tonight.

England are two points clear of the Scandinavians, and all-but assured of a play-off place.

A draw would guarantee them top spot in their group, and a place as seeds in next month's knockout double-header, but Henderson says they will be going all out for victory against the Norwegians.

"It was a great win to start with in Azerbaijan," he said. "We played some good stuff and we knew it was going to be difficult, so we were glad to come away with the three points.

"Norway will be a tough test for us, though. We played them once before and we found out how good they are, but hopefully we can continue to play the way we have been playing and get another win to top the group.

"We'll definitely be going into the game to try to win it, and we'll see what happens after that."

He added: "England teams always have to have ambitions to win tournaments. We have some great players at every level.

"First of all we've got to get to Israel, which would be a great achievement, then when we get out there we'll be determined to do something and go as far as we can.

"Every time you go out and play football you want to do your best and try to impress, it doesn't matter if it's at your club or at international level.

"It'll be no different on Monday night against Norway."

Source: Liverpool Echo