WOLVES' England stars are confident about the national team's chances in the Four Nations despite the current pessimism surrounding the team.

A poor showing at the 2008 World Cup, when England won only one of their four games, provoked a fierce reaction from fans and the national press and that experience is still fresh in the memory.

Head coach Tony Smith has been bold in his attempts to rebuild following the debacle, retaining only 11 players from the ill-fated campaign Down Under in his Four Nations squad.

The 17 selected to face France in Doncaster tomorrow night have an average age of just 24 but even such a drastic overhaul has begun to attract criticism, with many puzzled by some of Smith's selections.

But the players are certainly not puzzled.

Wolves signing Richie Myler is one of those to benefit from the changes, the 19-year-old scrum half given the chance to start alongside Danny McGuire at half back against France.

And he believes Smith's efforts to freshen up the team will reap rewards.

He said: "It’s a different bunch of lads, there are a few new recruits in it, like myself, and I think it’s given a new ethos and we’re a really tight bunch.

"The boys that went into the World Cup were a really good team, it just didn’t happen for them.

"You can’t say this is necessarily a better team but hopefully we can build a nice environment to train and play in.

"The players that are in there are rewarded for the season they’ve had and every single one of them can be accountable for their selection.

"Now we want to kick on and win the Four Nations."

For Wolves captain Adrian Morley, who was a member of the World Cup squad, it is all about making amends.

But the experienced prop forward understands the difficulty of the task ahead, beginning with tomorrow's clash with France, who will be a different prospect to the team that lost 66-12 to England in Paris earlier this year.

They will be buoyed by Catalans Dragons' strong finish to the Super League season, reaching the play-off semi finals, and reinforced by the return of injured players and the addition of Dragons' Australian star Clint Greenshields.

"We can’t underestimate France," said Morley.

"When we beat them in June they were missing six or seven who would have started so they’re going to be tough.

"They’ve acquired a couple of Aussies for the tournament as well.

"Australia will be out to prove they’re world number one and that it was a bit of a hiccup last year when they lost the World Cup.

"New Zealand will be out to prove it wasn’t a fluke and whatever squads they bring over, you know they’re going to be very tough to beat.

"As far as we go, we want to make up for last year, we were totally disappointed with the World Cup and we want to go out there and make amends."