Steven Gerrard says England need their supporters to get behind them if they are to continue their successful World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Liverpool midfielder, speaking ahead of Wednesday's match with Belarus, defended the right of England supporters to voice their opinions as large sections of the Wembley crowd booed Ashley Cole after his mistake led to the only Kazakhstan goal on Saturday. However, Gerrard insisted the team now needed their wholehearted backing.

"Any supporter, when you pay money, you deserve to voice your opinion," he said. "But we need their support. If we're going to be successful in the future, we need them with us.

"It's not going to help Ashley and it's not going to help the team but the support we got was fantastic, they stayed with us throughout the game and I think the fans went away happy with the 5-1 win, three points, top of the group."

When Gerrard was asked how Cole had reacted to the jeering, he added: "He [Cole] is disappointed and the players are disappointed because no one likes to see players booed, but what players have been talking about is the amount of England fans that turned up on Saturday. I think there were 90,000 at Wembley which was fantastic[and] I think 2-3,000 of them are going to Belarus on Wednesday. We appreciate the support but we urge the fans to stay with us. "

Cole and John Terry will miss Wednesday's match through injury, but Gerrard backed Cole to shrug off the criticism he received next time he plays.

"You've got to get on with it," Gerrard said. "You've got to take it as a man. Ashley's a big character and the players are here to support him. Booing has happened to a number of players in the past and I'm sure it will happen again."

The combination of Gerrard and Frank Lampard has attracted further criticism after Saturday's game, but the Liverpool captain says it is a partnership that both players are determined to improve upon.

"Both of us have been on record many, many times saying we haven't always clicked. You've got two honest lads who admit that," he said. "But you've also got two lads who are both working hard on the training ground to improve our relationship. [Our partnership] is just a small part of the team, the bigger picture is the team being successful. I think we 've got a good manager and we are going places so I would prefer to focus on that."

After three wins out of three England top their qualifying group, but Gerrard says the squad are determined to keep their feet on the ground.

"We're certainly not getting carried away," he added. "We realise there are still a lot of hurdles to get over, so we are going to take each game as it comes. We have got off to a fantastic start with three wins out of three, but we have got a difficult task on Wednesday. But if we can go there and make it four out of four we can go into the new year top of the group.

"We realise it's a tough test - it's in their stadium, they will have their support behind them - but we're ready. It's about us, it's about how we play, confidence is high so we're ready for them."

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