James Milner: 'England will be better at World Cup'

James Milner has no doubts that England will continue to get better and better in the build-up to next year's World Cup.

The Three Lions made sure of their spot in Brazil on Tuesday night after they beat Poland 2-0 at Wembley to finish top of Group H thanks to goals in either half from Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.

England have earned praise for their recently improved performances, but Milner insists that there is still more to come from his side.

"To miss out on the World Cup would have been heart-breaking, so now everyone has something to look forward to in the summer," Milner told Sky Sports News. "We've shown how hard we are to beat and that is a great quality. You can see we are improving all the time.

"We are creating chances and that tempo seems to be improving, and we are winning the ball back higher [up the pitch]. The longer we are together we'll keep getting better and better.

"Although the manager has been here 18 months or so, the time we have together is not that long, so it does take time to get it right. But I think we are making steps in the right direction and hopefully we can improve a lot more going into the World Cup."

Milner returns to the Premier League at the weekend when Manchester City travel to West Ham United.