GLEN JOHNSON has warned Italy that Steven Gerrard is playing at the peak of his powers now he is national team captain.

Roy Hodgson’s Three Lions face the Azzuri in the quarter-finals of the European Championships on Sunday having finished as Group D winners.

Johnson, 27, has played every minute of England’s Euro campaign so far but knows the stand-out player in white has been Gerrard.

The Liverpool defender believes Gerrard, also his club skipper, has upped his performance levels since being handed the captaincy by Hodgson, who took over in May.

Gerrard, who has three assists at the Euros, led England two years ago at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but was relieved of the duties once they were back home, with John Terry reinstated as captain by Fabio Capello.

The decision to snub Gerrard was heavily criticised but with Hodgson in little doubt as to who was right to skipper England in Euro 2012, Johnson believes England are now reaping the benefits.

“Steven has been a fantastic player for many, many years,” said Johnson.

“But with the armband I think he feels he needs to step up just that tiny bit more, and I think he's done it more than anyone so far.”

Johnson, who has won 39 caps, has been forced to deal with doubters on the international scene, especially from those championing the inclusion of Micah Richards.

Despite the Reds full-back having been involved in one of the most fiercely-contested positions in the team over the past two years, he has once again made it his own when it matters most.

The former Chelsea man said it was down to others to judge whether he was now the undisputed first choice.

But he added: “I played all the games in the World Cup, I played the majority of the games from then to now.

“I’ve played all the games here, so I’d have to be in contention, wouldn’t I?

“Every player wants to have a run in any side they play in.

“No-one wants to come in for one game then not play for a few months and come in for another.

“If you’re going to play, you want to play almost every possible opportunity.”

Johnson agrees that England, unfancied before the tournament began, deserve greater credit for the manner in which they negotiated a tricky group but he does not see it as a major issue.

“Yes, I think we deserve more respect,” he said. “But inside the camp, no one thinks like that. It is only people outside the camp so it is not really important.

“We'll just try and set out to be hard to beat," he said. "We've got some fantastic players in the side that can hurt any defence.

“Any team that's in the tournament has got a chance of winning it. The first objective was to get out of the group and we've done that very well by winning the group.

"Now it's a one-off game, and in a one-off game you can beat anyone.”