Carragher enjoyed a successful return to the starting line-up as England thrashed Iceland 6-1 to give them the perfect tonic ahead of their opening Euro 2004 game against France on Sunday.

Rooney had been accused of not having the right temperament to represent his country and was not the right man to partner Michael Owen in the England attack.

But the 18-year old more than showed he is ready to take Euro 2004 by storm this summer with a sensational brace at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday.

And Carragher reveals he was never tempted to give the youngster advice this week over handling the abuse that was heading in his direction.

Carragher said: "Wayne has received a bit of criticism over his temperament in the game against Japan and for an 18-year-old kid, a lot of the media have been talking about whether he should be in the team.

"But he showed what he can do in just 45 minutes - imagine if he would have been on for the full ninety minutes.

"I have not had to put my arm around him because he has already played over 70 games for Everton and has probably played for England more times than me, so if anything he will be putting his arm around my shoulder.

"There are more senior players in the team than myself and I am sure they have had a quiet word with him. No-one can argue with what he has done during his career so far."

Carragher earned a late call-up into the starting line-up after John Terry was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

But the Liverpool defender more than showed he can cover for the absence of Terry or Sol Campbell if the first choice central defenders suffer injury during Euro 2004.

And even though Carragher is renowned for being a full-back, the experienced player believes Sven Goran Eriksson has earmarked him as a centre-half when the tournament gets underway in Lisbon this weekend.

Carragher added: "It was nice for me to put on an England shirt again, especially being in the starting line-up. I was pleased to start the game and was happy with my performance.

"I always thought there was a fifty per cent chance that I could get into the squad and then there were a few injuries towards the end of the season.

"But at the time I didn't think it would benefit me because I thought the manager saw me more as a fullback.

"I have played centre-half for Liverpool in the last few games of the season and maybe Sven thought I did okay and has put me into the squad.

"If you look at the make-up of the squad I think he has included me as a centre-back because it looks like Wayne Bridge and Phil Neville are the reserve full-backs.

"It was a case of me being patient and I seemed to have played a lot of games for the Under-21's. I would have liked to move up into the senior squad a lot quicker, but there are a lot of talented players in the country and it was difficult.

"But I am just pleased to be part of the England squad and am looking forward to Euro 2004 getting underway."

Carragher believes this latest victory is the perfect confidence boost before England's crucial opening game against the European champions.

He said: "It was important we got a good result and a good performance before heading off to Portugal this week.

"The players were a little bit down after the Japan game because we had not got the result or the performance.

"But we more than showed against Iceland that is has set us up nicely for the France game.