Wednesday 25 June 2014 16:23, UK
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley believes that he has "benefited" from his experience at the World Cup in Brazil.
The 20-year-old was among a number of young players manager Roy Hodgson included in his 23-man squad and featured in all three of their group games.
Barkley came on as a substitute against Italy and Uruguay, and started the Three Lions' final Group D clash against Costa Rica on Tuesday.
England crashed out of the tournament after managing to pick up just one point, but Barkley believes that it was a positive experience for him and for the other young players in the team.
I’m a young lad and hearing advice from the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard throughout this tournament has helped me and will help the other young lads for the future.
"It was brilliant to be out there in my first competitive start," the Liverpool Echo quotes him as saying.
"We kept a clean sheet and we've got to take positives from the game.
"I'm happy with my performance but overall I thought the team did well and defended well.
"Unfortunately we didn't get the win but we’ve got to learn from these situations.
"It's a big disappointment from my point of view but you've got to experience these types of things to learn.
"I'm a young lad and hearing advice from the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard throughout this tournament has helped me and will help the other young lads for the future.
"I think I have benefited from it, as well as the others. Even though we didn't do well on the pitch, I thought being around all the experienced players has been good for us."
