England were drawn in Group C with USA, Slovenia and Algeria.
“What I didn’t want was to come up against the unknown and we have avoided that and we have avoided some of the really hard groups – like the one Brazil find themselves in,” said Gerrard.
“We have played two of the sides in our group under Fabio Capello – and beaten them.
“So we know what to expect and we know what we have to do to beat them.
“I am really encouraged by the draw, it is all we could ask, even beyond the the first group stage.
“We have to be professional and show the right attitude because even though we’ll be massive favourites you know the other teams in our group will see England as a huge scalp – almost their own World Cup final.
“But we have to be confident of getting maximum points otherwise we shouldn’t be going.”
