A Jermain Defoe hat-trick helped Fabio Capello's side launch their Euro 2012 group campaign in the same sort of form they demonstrated in the qualifiers for South Africa.

Now they face arguably the toughest challenge with an away clash against Switzerland - conquerors of eventual winners Spain during the summer - in Basle on Tuesday evening.

But Milner believes England can take plenty of heart from the way the likes of Defoe, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard performed against the Bulgarians.

Milner said: "It's down to us to show we have learnt from those experiences in the summer.

"We know we didn't do as well as we would have liked. It's not about putting it on the back burner and forgetting about it.

"We had to turn the corner as soon as possible. It has been down to us to learn from what went wrong, to try to respond to the criticism and show that we are a good team.

"We haven't done that yet - but it is one positive result and it is down to us to build on that.

"We need to keep improving and keep moving forward as a team because there have been a lot of changes in the squad.

"We went through qualification for the World Cup very well and hopefully we can do the same for the European Championships.

"There is a long way to go. It's a tough group, but it's a good start and it's about keeping it going and keeping on improving."

Milner believes keeping a clean sheet is crucial against the Swiss and has been unsurprised by the form of his former Under-21 and current Manchester City team-mate Joe Hart.

He said: "They are a good team - they've showed that. They had a very good result in the summer (against Spain) in the World Cup so it is going to be tough.

"Every away game in qualification is tough. You go to some tough places with hostile atmospheres and everyone raises their game against England.

"It is up to everyone to take the form they showed at Wembley out there. We will try to win but if we can keep a clean sheet that is the main thing.

"With the quality we've got going forward, we can always score a goal. Hopefully we can go there solid as a team and if perform like we did on Friday, I am sure we can do well."

As regards Hart, Milner said: "Joe is a top player. He'll just keep improving and improving. He works so hard every day in training.

"Some of the saves he has pulled off in the last few weeks have been top drawer but I've seen that for a long time.

"I've been lucky enough to see Joe with the Under-21s for a long time.

"Maybe people are only just seeing that now and being on loan last season (at Birmingham) helped him and maybe gave him that confidence.

"Hopefully, he will keep improving. You've got Ben Foster and Scott Loach coming in as well, Scott Carson.

"Joe needs to be pushed and he will be because they are good keepers."