England captain Wayne Rooney has revealed that a 'players only' team meeting without manager Roy Hodgson and his coaching staff has been introduced to the pre-match build up for international matches.
Rooney is reported to have been the instigator behind the team gathering that are designed to allow players to express their grievances and offer suggestions on how they can improve.
- Smith: Will Rooney's place in history be based on reputation or merit?
- Jolly: Cool and dependable, Cahill emerges as England's rock
"We have had meetings amongst ourselves -- just players in the rooms -- watching videos and discussing how we can do better as a team," he is quoted in the Daily Mirror.
"In the meetings, you're having players speak up who wouldn't normally when coaches are there. They've been good and I think the players have really stood up."
Meanwhile, England defender Leighton Baines has revealed that manager Hodgson has given his players 'homework' ahead of their next round of Euro 2016 qualifiers in October.
"We are not being told to do it, but there is a desire to put the onus on ourselves to leave no stone unturned and we are all keen to get back to where we want to be," said the Everton full-back.
"We've done that in the last week. We're all hurting from the summer [World Cup first round exit] and we don't want that situation again, so we'll work as hard as we can to make sure we're the best we can be.
"It's not easy for the manager and his staff to implement the ideas in such a short period time. You can do a certain amount of work on the pitch but you're never too far away from a game so you have to be careful.
"The meetings are important, the videos and in this last trip the staff really put a lot more emphasis on us to speak up and give our own opinions and I think that has been really helpful.
"It just makes sense if someone has an opinion, there is not just one or two people from the group speaking. It's everyone gets to voice their opinion and they can be taken into consideration and then collectively make more of a point.
"Obviously, the final call will always be the manager's, but I think he is really open to listening to what the players have to say and taking that into consideration."