England captain Steven Gerrard has insisted that he has no plans to willingly relinquish his place within the national squad.

The Liverpool midfielder's words come after Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand snubbed his first call-up to the Three Lions set-up since June 2011.

"I don't know the details from Rio's side, but I want to help take this team to the World Cup in Brazil," ESPN quotes Gerrard as saying. "Playing for England is the pinnacle of everyone's career. If I'm not playing tomorrow I'll be very disappointed, which shows what it means to me.

"At my age, there's no better stage for a footballer. I'm not tired, I'm fine. My body's good, I'm good. I have my personal programme that I stick to.

"I'm benefiting from my own training schedule, I'm playing games and feeling really good. Ninety per cent of the players I play with at Liverpool and England have a very similar programme to myself."

The 32-year-old is expected to lead England out in tonight's World Cup qualifier against San Marino.