No burn-out fears for Albrighton

The 21-year-old all but cemented his place in England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce's 23-man squad for the European Championships with an impressive performance against Iceland on Monday. The result was the only negative of the night for Albrighton, with Villa club-mate Nathan Delfouneso's early goal eventually counting for nothing as the visitors came from behind to win 2-1. Much of the talk around the match was of potential battles between club and country for the tournament in Denmark in June. Pearce has already declared his intention to pick his strongest available squad, meaning Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere and Liverpool striker Andy Carroll, now regulars in the senior side, are set to be included. However, Wilshere's club-mate Theo Walcott is not under consideration after being part of the squad two years ago when England lost to Germany in the final. The 22-year-old suffered a succession of injuries the following season and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger would be concerned about the same happening to Wilshere. Albrighton, though, has no such worries despite the tournament coming at the end of his first full season with the Villa first team. The winger said: "There's nothing like competitive football, it's what you strive for, and to be going away with your country is a big honour. If I can get picked for that squad it would be great for me. "It would be nice to put my feet up but there's nothing better than playing football, it's what I love doing. "I'm only 21, there's no chance of me burning out. I'd play every day if I could." Pearce chose to rest a lot of his higher-profile players for yesterday's match against another European Championship finalist but the result was still a blow. England will have one more friendly, against Norway at Southampton on June 5, before the start of the tournament a week later, where they have been drawn in the same group as Spain, Ukraine and Czech Republic. With Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland and Belarus in the other group, England look to have the tougher route through, but Albrighton remains confident. He said: "Our group is a very hard group. The other group might not have the big names in it, but we'll still go there with plenty of confidence and look to win it. "Our confidence is still there and still high. We've slipped up but the gaffer said after the game that this time two years ago they lost 2-0 to France and then they got to the final, so it could be a good omen. "Every player in the squad has got an unbelievable amount of talent and nearly all of them are playing regular first-team football, whether it's in the Premier League or in the Championship." Albrighton was one of a number of Villa players to star in an England shirt in recent days, with Ashley Young and Darren Bent both playing key roles in the senior side's 2-0 win over Wales on Saturday. And Albrighton believes the club's success on the international stage can be traced back to former manager Martin O'Neill's transfer policy. "Martin O'Neill, when he was here, looked for young English talent and he brought that in," said Albrighton. "Now we've got Benty as well and the English talent at the football club is great at the moment. "Ashley Young was brilliant, Benty was brilliant, Stewart Downing when he got on played well, and for me to be learning off players like that is great." Current Villa boss Gerard Houllier will now hope his players can take their international form into the Premier League, with the club sitting only one point above the relegation zone ahead of Saturday's trip to Everton. Albrighton added: "We've got a massive game at the weekend but we'll go there with plenty of confidence and look to win the game. "It's a strange position for us to be in but we've got eight games left and we'll look to win all of them."