Shelvey sets his sights
Nicholas Veevers
Wednesday, 01 September, 2010
Midfielder ready for international return on Thursday.
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Midfield dynamo Jonjo Shelvey is looking forward to getting back in the international spotlight on Thursday evening, after over a year since his last involvement with England.
The Liverpool ace is in Noel Blake’s U19 squad to face Slovakia in Crewe and it will be his first taste of action for the Young Lions since May of last year when he was part of the U17s squad which reached the European Championship Finals in Germany.
That ended in disappointment at the time as John Peacock’s team didn’t get out of the group stages, but since then Shelvey feels he has grown up both on and off the pitch having moved from being a first-team regular with Charlton Athletic to playing with some of the best players in the world at Liverpool and he’s ready for a return to the international scene.
“It’s been a long time, so it’s nice to get a call-up again,” admitted Shelvey to the matchday programme.
“It’s a progression really and that’s what the aim of all of us in the squad will be, to play at the highest level we can.
“I see this as the next step up for me really and you hope that you can perform well in the U19s and then reach the Under-21s after that.”
Shelvey has previously represented England at both U16 and U17 level and was on the standby list for the European U19 Championships in France in July so he had already been in the thoughts of Head Coach Blake before the new season began.
And after watching last season’s team go on to reach the Semi-Final of the Euros, it has whetted the Romford boy’s appetite for more caps.
“I watched the U19s in the summer in their Finals on Eurosport and it was good to watch them playing, just to learn and see how you can hopefully follow in their footsteps,” he added.
“Going into this season, it was good to know I was in his (Blake’s) mind for the last U19 team.
“That was good for me, so I just want to show what I can do now.”