Theo Walcott will relish getting the chance to lead the line for England if he is selected instead of Wayne Rooney.
Rooney, England’s record scorer, appears to be a major doubt for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Estonia at Wembley on Friday after missing a second successive training session because of an ankle injury.
And, while Walcott feels the Manchester United striker may still recover in time, he believes the fans would be happy to see him take Rooney’s place for the match.
“Being Wayne he always wants to represent his country,” the Arsenal striker said. “If he can’t – and he’s obviously got a little knock – the manager will make the decision.
“Playing up front for England, that’s what I want to do. You want to represent your country and I know everyone would like to see me up front but whether it’s on the left or right … there’s an opportunity there definitely.”
Walcott is more than willing to support the teenager Dele Alli, who has been called up for the first time after impressing Roy Hodgson with his performances for Tottenham.
It is nine years since Walcott was a surprise inclusion in the 2006 World Cup squad and he knows all too well what it feels like to be involved with the national side from a young age.
Walcott said of the midfielder: “Seeing him for the first time, he’s a big lad. He’s very classy on the ball and he’s only 19 so he’s got a long England career ahead of him, and with Tottenham as well.
“He’s in the spotlight straight away. I’m always there for him as I was in the England squad at the age of 17. I’ve been through it so he’s always got plenty of people here to talk to. Looking at him, he’s the sort of player who’d be able to deal with anything.”
Joe Hart also predicted a bright future for Alli, who joined Spurs from MK Dons in the winter transfer window. “He’s really pushed on. He had a good season last season and Tottenham look like they’ve given him confidence by putting him in their very good side. It’s good to get him in and he’s going to be in and around the England squad for a very long time.”
The Manchester City goalkeeper does not believe beating Estonia and Lithuania to register 10 wins from 10 games in Group E is an achievement in itself, and is instead focused on chasing glory in France.
He said: “I think crowning it all would be winning the tournament but these are two games we’re going to look to win, like we’ve looked to win all the games so far. We’ve accomplished that so these are two more games in which we’re going to work on playing in the way we want to play, and then we move on.”
When pushed to concede that racking up 10 qualifying wins would be a commendable feat, Hart remained unmoved. “I don’t see it being that great an achievement unless we go on and do well in the tournament in the summer.”