Four Villa stars have been called up by Stuart Pearce for England U21s clash with Italy.Kyle Walker, Marc Albrighton, Fabian Delph and Nathan Delfouneso are all in the 23-man squad for the friendly clash.Walker has been a relevation in claret and blue since moving on loan from Tottenham while Albrighton has been performing at a high level since the start of the campaign.Delph is now back from injury, having recovered from a frustrating knee problem while Delfouneso has found the back of the net for the first team when opportunities to start have arisen.The game, on February 8 at the Stadio Carlo Castellani from 2pm, forms part of preparations for this summer's European Championships.Both nations will be competing in the prestigious tournament in June and last faced each other in the 2007 event, when David Nugent and Leroy Lita were on target for the Three Lions before Giorgio Chiellini and Alberto Aquilani earned a 2-2 draw in the group stage encounter.The fixture is also the first of three friendlies for Pearce's young charges, with matches against Denmark away on March 24 and Iceland at Preston North End four days later.The squad also includes three new faces - Burnley forward Jay Rodriguez will be joined by Southampton winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Middlesbrough defender Joe Bennett in the party bound for Empoli in Tuscany.Meanwhile, Barry Bannan has been selected for Scotland seniors as they get set for the Carling Nations Cup, a tournament between home countries, also including Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales.Ciaran Clark and Richard Dunne are both in the Eire squad for the competition, with all games held at Dublin's Aviva Stadium in February and May.
Do we know who the strikers are? I'm a little suprised not to see The Fonz in the squad.
It would be great if they all got a run out.
Shame Clark has chosen Eire. He is going to be very good anx he will never play in a world cup.