Milner 'lucky to learn' from Gerrard

Published Sep. 9, 2010 9:15 a.m. ET

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Gerrard turned in another fine performance in his preferred central midfield role in tandem with Gareth Barry during England's 3-1 win over Switzerland. He won his 87th cap in Basle to move into eighth spot in England's all-time appearance list after overtaking Kenny Sansom. Milner has now established himself on the left-hand side of midfield and feels he can only benefit from playing alongside Gerrard, who has worn the captain's armband in the absence of the injured Rio Ferdinand. He said: "When you've got good players they are going to shine through. "You know Steven Gerrard is another top player that we are lucky to have. "He has shown his leadership skills. "Not everyone has to be a shouter. He will do that, he'll have a word and shout at you when it needs to be done. "But he leads by example on the pitch, without or with the ball, and we are lucky to have a player like that. "I'm lucky to be able to look up to a player like that and learn as much as I can off him." Milner feels the shape of the midfield employed by Fabio Capello against the Swiss can also be effective against the bigger football powers. He said: "I don't see why not. It is down to the manager how he wants to play. "I think we've got the players in the squad to be able to play like that (against Switzerland) and other formations as well. "If the manager wants to play three in there, if he wants to play a diamond, whatever, we've got the players who can change and play the way he wants to play. "I think that helps and gives him options when we play against teams who play different ways. You have to be able to adapt your style." Milner was amongst six Manchester City players on the pitch at the end of the game and believes it is an encouraging sign for the club's Premier League title aspirations. He said: "It is good to have that core of English players but we need the mix as well. "We are very fortunate to have a lot of talented foreign players at the club as well. "The mix is there. Most teams who win the title have an English core as well so it can only be good for us as a club." Wayne Rooney ended his year long goal drought for England in his first match after allegations involving his private life. But Milner says the Manchester United star makes a sizeable contribution irrespective of whether he finds the net. Milner said: "He probably deserved to get a goal against Bulgaria the other night because he was outstanding and created a lot of goals. "He is a world-class player so, whenever he steps out onto a football pitch, he is going to cause problems and score goals. "As a striker you are judged by goals and if you go a few games without a goal, people are going to say stuff. "But he brings so much to the team anyway - work-rate, ability, setting up goals, the vision. "It helps when he is scoring goals but he is bringing everything to the table anyway."