No Walcott in England U-21 squad

　　

　　

　　Walcott celebrates his hat-trick against Croatia in 2008

　　Theo Walcott has not been included in Stuart Pearce's England Under-21 squad to play Greece next week.

　　Walcott's omission could see the 20-year-old Arsenal forward named in Fabio Capello's England squad for the Egypt friendly on Wednesday 3 March.

　　The winger had not played for Capello's England side this season due to knee, hamstring and shoulder injuries, though he has featured for the Under-21 side.

　　Wigan's Victor Moses and Aston Villa's Nathan Delfouneso are in the squad too.

　　"We just felt that Nathan has got a great commodity in his pace," said Pearce, ahead of the European Championship match against Greece which takes place at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium on the same day as England play Egypt.

　　"I've seen him play for the Under-19s and he can also play out wide as well as down the middle.

　　

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　　"And Victor has the ability to go past a player and be a match-winner, so between them they give us something different."

　　Jack Rodwell, Lee Cattermole, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere return to Pearce's squad following injuries during the last international break.

　　"The last squad we picked, there were eight players who had played the previous Saturday," added Pearce.

　　"I've named a 24-man squad for this one and there are 14 players who played at the weekend, so we've got a bigger number who are getting first-team football.

　　"There are the likes of Jack Cork and Jack Wilshere, who have recently gone out on loan to Premier League clubs, while Victor signed for Wigan last month.

　　"Amongst this group there are those like Michael Mancienne, Ryan Bertrand, Scott Loach and Fabrice Muamba who have played a lot of first-team footballthis season too.

　　"So we have some experience there that can be very important for us."

　　In September 2008, Walcott became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for England in the 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Croatia.