Wayne Rooney has rejected suggestions that England played with "fear" during their draw with the United States in their World Cup opener.

Captain Steven Gerrard had given England a dream start in Rustenburg by giving them a fourth-minute lead but a howler from keeper Robert Green allowed Clint Dempsey to equalise as Fabio Capello's side made an unimpressive start to their bid for World Cup glory.

The Americans, including Dempsey, have since accused England of being nervous and fearful during Saturday's game, but Rooney said: "They only had two or three shots from distance and they had only one good chance to score so I don't think there was any fear from us as we took the game to them."

England now face a must-win clash with Algeria on Friday and Rooney is confident that England will bounce back from Saturday's disappointment.

He said: "We started very well (on Saturday) and we deserved to win and overall we did enough to win the game, but unfortunately we didn't. But I am sure we will take three points on Friday."

There is a huge amount of pressure on the Manchester United forward, with many seeing his performances and goals as key to England's hopes of a first World Cup triumph since 1966, and he admits he will be looking to improve on his personal display against the United States in Cape Town on Friday.

He said: "We have players who can score goals for us, but for us to do well I need to play a bit better than I did and score goals. But I don't feel under any pressure, as long as the team does well."