England captain Steven Gerrard has hit back at Patrick Vieira for suggesting that young English players do not want to play for the national team.

Last week, the Manchester City football development executive said that youngsters in England frequently pull out of international matches due to injuries, claiming that this probably stems from "a lack of love for the national team".

"It surprised me to read that," Gerrard is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

"The impression I get from young players at Liverpool is that they are desperate to get into this setup.

"You can see in their faces that when they are left out, they're really disappointed. It didn't annoy me because I don't really care what Patrick Vieira says. England's young players are hungry."

England are in Warsaw on Tuesday for their 2014 World Cup qualifier against Poland in Group H.