Frank Lampard has warned the United States that Wayne Rooney is no longer the hot-headed striker whose dismissal at the 2006 World Cup contributed to England's exit in the quarter-finals.

Since that stamp on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho, fatherhood and marriage has been credited by both England coach Fabio Capello and Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson with helping to mature the 24-year-old Rooney.

So Lampard was surprised on Saturday to hear that former US defender Alexi Lalas was advising the Americans in their World Cup opener against England next Saturday to try and antagonise Rooney.

"Everyone has seen his maturity as a player and a person over the years," Lampard said.

"I don't think there is any issue about trying to wind him up."

Capello has lectured his players on the importance of not allowing a reckless moment to jeopardise England's hopes of a first World Cup title since 1966.

"Discipline is important at any level of football," Lampard said.

"You have to understand the importance of having 11 men because when you are at the top end, the small details and small changes mean everything. If you get a red card it's a bit stupid and it can affect the team. Referees are looking at these kind of incidents because the world is watching.

"The manager has always spoken about making sure you don't lose your head. Everyone wants to be aggressive in the tackle but you don't want to overstep the mark and put the team in jeopardy."

With the United States match a week away, Lampard knows the team must quickly get over the shock of losing skipper Rio Ferdinand to injury.

"We have lost a big player," Lampard said. "But we can't try to make an excuse of that. We just have to keep focused.

"'Let's do it for Rio"'. That has become a bit of a slogan. We want to win it (the World Cup) as a group."

The immediate challenge for coach Fabio Capello is who replaces Ferdinand in the starting lineup against the Americans next Saturday.

"It is a blow - go through the team and most people could name the important players who could have been there or thereabouts for a long time and played regularly - Rio is one of them," said Chelsea's Lampard. "Him and JT (John Terry) have formed a successful partnership for the past few years. Now it is up to whoever steps in but it is not ideal this close to the tournament."

The player defending alongside Terry could be Ledley King, who - despite chronic knee problems - has been a solid figure in the Tottenham team that has qualified for the Champions League for the first time.

King, though, struggles to train between matches and - like on Saturday - was restricted to working on his own in the gym. That could limit his ability to quickly forge a defensive partnership with Terry.

Ferdinand's squad replacement, uncapped Tottenham centre back Michael Dawson, immediately joined the team on Saturday at training after flying into Johannesburg on a night flight from London. Another option is Matthew Upson, who missed Saturday's session with a temperature.

There was some better news for Capello from goalkeeper David James, who returned to training after struggling with knee problems following the team's flight from London.

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