Praising striker Andy Carroll’s recent performances, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said the forward has improved a lot and should be included in the England squad to the European Championships.

Carroll signed for the Reds at the start of the season for whopping £35 million, but failed to perform for most of the campaign, scoring only six goals in 39 appearances. However, the striker has recently returned to form and has netted some match-winning goals, including one in their 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the FA Cup final on the weekend.

“Credit to Andy who came on and played brilliantly well. He changed the way we played. We were a lot better with him in the team, we were a lot more direct, we created more, we were more of a threat. I think his form the last two or three months has been fantastic and he is certainly pushing for a place back in the England squad in my opinion,” said Gerrard.

Speaking on whether Carroll’s far-post header went over the line or not, Gerrard said, “It is difficult for officials to give decisions like that. There is an argument that maybe it is [over the line] on the computer image but when you look at the replay. Phil Dowd is standing by me and the linesman is 40 yards away - it is impossible to give a yes or a no on it.”

Gerrard believes that although Carroll has not had the best of starts to his Anfield career, as he scored only eight goals this season, but he has shown remarkable progress in the last couple of months and England manager Roy Hodgson should take this into consideration.