Jordan Henderson has described captaining England as a "huge honour" and claims that the players want Gareth Southgate to become manager on a permanent basis.

The Liverpool skipper was handed the armband for his country's friendly against Spain during the week after Wayne Rooney was ruled out through injury, a month after he captained England against Slovenia.

"It's a huge honour to captain your country," Henderson told the Sunday Express. "Whether I'm captain or not, I try to lead by example on and off the field, helping players around us. I just do what I've always done.

"Obviously I was given [the captaincy] for a reason and I don't really need to change, but I need to keep learning and progressing and that's my aim.

"We're all very supportive of the manager. After our work on the training field and in the meetings we've had I feel we're definitely going in the right direction. I know the players and manager have given all they've got for the last few games [Southgate] has been in charge."

Henderson, who began his career at Sunderland, won his first Three Lions cap in 2010.