well. "It's a great honour to captain the team and, hopefully, it will be a successful night for us." Regular skipper Gerrard was Rooney's mentor in his early England days and he got a mention in despatches too. Rooney said: "With England, Steven Gerrard has certainly been an inspiration in my career. As I was growing up, I saw his passion and desire to play for Liverpool and England and that's fantastic." Roo has worn the England armband before, in the 1-0 friendly loss to Brazil in Doha three years ago. This is the first time he has skippered his country in a competitive international, although it seems odd to label a match against San Marino -- the world's bottom-ranked team at 207 -- as being more competitive than playing Brazil. But this is a World Cup qualifier and must be seen as more important. Rooney admitted: "I have captained United a few times in Champions League and different stuff and I think it's a great responsibility for me. "I feel I've matured as a player, learned the game better and have a different style. "Whatever the manager asks me to do, I can do it. Hopefully, I can help the players and myself." But Rooney will not let the captaincy deflect him from also trying to become one of England's top five goalscorers. He is currently on 29 goals for his country as he prepares for his first international appearance since the Euro 2012 finals. Two more would lift