Jordan Henderson has claimed that England's younger players have no fear ahead of their opening World Cup match against Italy on Saturday night.

Much of the build-up to England's campaign has been dominated by speculation about the roles of Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling, and Henderson has revealed that the duo are among a number of youngsters to have impressed behind the scenes recently.

"You can see that a lot of the younger lads who are new on the scene have no fear and that can only be a plus," the Liverpool midfielder told reporters.

"Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and Luke Shaw have come into the squad and you can just see how fantastic they've all been in training.

"In matches, too, they have shown exactly what they are about. They have no fear."

Former England midfielder Paul Scholes recently urged Roy Hodgson to put his faith in Sterling and Barkley in Brazil.