FRANK Lampard has revealed that his England team-mates are already benefiting from Wayne Rooney's blossoming reputation as one of the most dangerous attackers in the world.

After sitting out Saturday's win over Austria through suspension, Rooney produced a magnificent virtuoso performance to illuminate Wednesday night's success against Poland.

The Manchester United striker produced a succession of dangerous surges that punctured the heart of the Polish defence and, while he failed to find the target himself, he repeatedly created openings for others to exploit.

"Wayne's a fantastic player," said Lampard, whose 80th-minute winner ensured England would finish top of Group Six. "The amount of times I look up and he's there waiting in the hole is unbelievable.

"You can give him any kind of ball and he'll bring it down, turn and make things happen. You can't buy that - he's a one-off in that way. He's one of the best in the world at doing what he does.

"I'm sure defenders are aware of what he can do and, when you get a player of that ability with that kind of instinct, you don't want to dive in on him.

"If they don't do that, it gives Wayne other options with the ball at his feet. If teams are scared of him, that will be a good thing for all of us."

Lampard's ability to link up with Rooney was undoubtedly improved by the presence of Ledley King at the base of midfield on Wednesday night.

The Tottenham centre-half provided the stability England had craved in their earlier outings this season but, while Lampard was impressed by the way his fellow Londoner adapted to a largely alien role, he feels it would be wrong to assume that Steven Gerrard's place is consequently under threat.

"It's nice to have someone there in terms of insurance," he said. "It's not in Ledley's nature to go bombing forward, so it's a bit of insurance for me to have him there.

"But I don't think we should lose sight of just what a good player Steven Gerrard is as well. He played a similar role very well on Saturday and, whoever is playing with me in there, I know we can make it work as long as we communicate and we're disciplined.

"I don't think you can say that we need someone to sit full-time. It gives you a great option but, when we get to tournaments, there might be times when we need to go a bit more gung-ho.

"There might also be times when we need someone sitting there marking a world-class player that keeps dropping into the hole. Ledley showed, against Poland, that he can do that."

Lampard has been one of the real success stories in England's qualifying campaign and, after winning his 37th cap this week, the Chelsea midfielder is finally feeling at home on the international stage.

"I think I've matured a lot in the England team over the last couple of years," he explained. "Before I felt like I was still breaking in, now I feel much more like an important member of the squad.

"I think that rubs off on you. When you can make things happen and score important goals, it helps you to take charge of a game.

"I do try to do that. It doesn't always happen, but you need players to be able to do that and I think we've got individuals in the team who can.

"At different times, you need different players to be able to come to the fore if you're going to be successful."