Glen Johnson: 'England captaincy has helped Steven Gerrard'

Glen Johnson believes that the England captaincy has brought the best of out his Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard.

Manager Roy Hodgson handed the 32-year-old the armband after being appointed Fabio Capello's successor in May.

Johnson has praised Gerrard's Euro 2012 performances and has attributed these to the extra responsibility of being Three Lions skipper.

"Stevie has been a fantastic player for many, many years but with the armband I think he feels like he needs to step up just that tiny bit more and I think he's done that more than anyone so far," Johnson told Sky Sports News.

Gerrard has been capped 95 times by England since debuting in 2000.