England boss Roy Hodgson is convinced by the quality of Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson.

Hodgson believes that the Liverpool midfielder, who takes on Manchester United on Sunday and is tipped to take over the captaincy from Steven Gerrard next season, is only a step away from becoming an exceptional player.

Hodgson said: "His rise has been fairly meteoric as well. It wasn't so long ago that I picked him for Euro 2012 and that decision was vilified. People were saying he wasn't getting into the Liverpool team and he was being described as a waste of money.

"Then he went to the Under-21 tournament a year later and got an awful lot of criticism captaining the England Under-21 team. No-one had a good word to say about him. So his rise has been quite meteoric, even though he's been round a long time.

"It's only the last year that people are starting to say: 'Actually, this boy's a good player'. This lad has a lot of qualities. And of course I think, as time goes on, the responsibility he's been given at Liverpool now by Brendan will help him. Liverpool's success will rub off on him as well as he's been an important part of it.

"I think we'll see him get better and better and that's what we hope. He certainly has enough qualities that I don't think he needs to be hung up on goal-scoring. He'll always be around the national team for the many other qualities he has. If he starts to add goals as well, then you're talking about someone who is exceptional."