Newly-appointed England captain Steven Gerrard feels that his side are fated to be involved in a penalty shootout at some point in the World Cup and he hopes he will handle the pressure (7/1 to win the World Cup).

The Liverpool midfielder was named as captain after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the tournament when he picked up a knee ligament injury in the first training session since the team landed in South Africa.

Gerrard believes that penalties are inevitable if the side make it past the group stages of the competition.

He said: “I’ve got a feeling we might have to go to penalties at some point and as a player going into a World Cup,  you’ve got to be prepared for a shoot-out, it’s as simple as that.

“The games when you get further into a tournament are so tight. Hopefully we get a bit more luck this time – and I take a better penalty.”

Gerrard missed a penalty in the defeat against Portugal in the quarter-finals of the competition which was just one of many spot-kick heartbreaks for the Three Lions in major tournaments.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is England’s regular spot-kick taker but he has not been able to convert his last two penalties – the first was against Portsmouth in the FA Cup final at Wembley with the second in the pre-tournament friendly with Japan.

Gerrard believes that is impossible to replicate the pressure that is placed on a player during a penalty shootout.

He said: “When you practise penalties in training you pick a ball up and shoot within a few seconds.

“But in the World Cup… what is it, a 30-second walk from the half-way line when you’ve got millions and millions of viewers back home wanting you to score? You can’t prepare for that.

“What you can do is be ready and not shy away from it and have the bottle to step up there for another go – especially when you’ve missed one before. I’ll be ready.”

England are currently preparing for their opening match of the World Cup against USA on June 12 (England 4/9 draw 3/1 USA 6/1 – match betting).

Gareth Barry has taken part in his second day of training since coming back from the ankle injury he picked playing for Manchester City against Tottenham.

The Three Lions will be hoping for no more injury worries ahead of that first game against USA before they take on Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.

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