Capello support lifts Walcott
Capello hinted at regret over Walcott's omission from his squad for the summer showpiece, a quote Walcott admits has helped to inspire his impressive start to the season. The Arsenal winger will line up against Denmark on Wednesday and acknowledged: "It's a nice quote and that's helped me out so much this season, it's shown that the manager's taken responsibility for what he did. "I had a good pre-season and started the season brightly, it's always nice when the manager's got faith in you - even though I didn't go to the World Cup. "I've had ups and downs in my career so far and I felt needed that mental break from it all so it might have done me a favour. "It was his decision to make and I respected it. It's helped me out so much this season, having that break and those quotes from the manager as well." Walcott was buoyed after discussing the decision with Capello and said: "I wanted to know why I didn't go and I had a conversation with him, he's a manager you can approach. "It's got my mind at ease, I can build on the manager's belief in me and I think I need to start believing in myself - which I have, my performances have been better this season. "It's going to put a smile on your face if the manager's thinking (it's) a mistake he made, it's great for a player. I want to help him and prove he was wrong, I want to play well for England and hopefully make his job easier. "It happened and you can't change it now, I've tried to prove people wrong this season about what I can do." Walcott has not scored for England since a memorable hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Croatia in Zagreb in September 2008 and said: "I think I need to grab a goal, I haven't got a goal since the Croatia moment. "It's always nice to get goals but when you get the performances as well, it's great to be in a winning team even if you're not scoring. "My shooting boots have been on for Arsenal and hopefully on Wednesday night I can grab a goal or an assist or something and get some more confidence." Michael Dawson is hoping for a chance to show Capello he can make a big contribution for the national team. Dawson, 27, would surely have more than the two caps he has to his name were it not for ill-timed injuries, including the one that saw him stretchered off less than an hour into his first competitive England appearance - against Bulgaria. With Rio Ferdinand missing from Capello's squad, Dawson sees a chance to stake a claim. "I don't tend to set too many targets, what will be will be," he said. "When I walk on the training pitch I give it my all and it's the same on the pitch. Hopefully that's enough. "It's great to be part of the England squad, and hopefully I will get my chance on Wednesday. "You will have to ask the manager who will play. "JT (John Terry), Gary Cahill, Joleon Lescott, they are all good players and will want to do well." Dawson featured in an inexperienced central defensive pairing when he started against Bulgaria, playing alongside Phil Jagielka. Terry is expected to start on Wednesday, and Dawson is eager to learn from the vastly-experienced Chelsea captain. "Myself and Jags, when we played against Bulgaria there were not too many caps between us, but we went out there and after 60 minutes we were feeling very comfortable until I got my injury. "But JT has been in and around this for many years and he's a top class player."