England captain Steven Gerrard insists his team will be practising penalties a lot in the build up to the World Cup.

The Three Lions have been eliminated from no fewer than six major tournaments on spot-kicks, the most recent of which came against Cesare Prandelli’s Italy at Euro 2012 two years ago.

England captain Steven Gerrard insists his team will be practising penalties a lot in the build up to the World Cup.

The Three Lions have been eliminated from no fewer than six major tournaments on spot-kicks, the most recent of which came against Cesare Prandelli’s Italy at Euro 2012 two years ago.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live Sport, the Liverpool midfielder expressed his hope that Roy Hodgson’s side would play well enough to avoid such a scenario this time around, but also said they would be ready should it come to pass.

“I understand the fixation because we’ve failed in a few,” Gerrard said. “But don’t get carried away with it as it may never come about.

“Hopefully we perform well enough in 90 or 120 minutes to prevent it from going to a shootout.

“But we will be ready if it comes around. We are going to practise penalties a lot, but it is a difficult situation to put into words.

"A penalty shootout is a more pressurised situation than any one penalty in a league game. You have an awful lot more time to think about your penalty and what is at stake is a lot bigger."

England’s opening match of the World Cup is against the Azzurri on June 14.

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