Aston Villa man backs Under-21s for Friday and outlines his future aims

by Glenn Lavery

Former England Under-21 winger Marc Albrighton has backed Stuart Pearce’s men to get a result against Serbia on Friday night.

The Young Lions take on Aleksandar Jankovic’s side at Carrow Road in the first leg of their Euro 2013 play-off, a game which brings back fond memories for the Aston Villa man.

Albrighton played for the Under-21s in their Euro 2011 play-off against Romania two years ago, also at Norwich, coming off the bench in the first leg to set up the second goal in a 2-1 win.

He recalls: “To play for your country is the best thing you can do as a professional sportsperson so for me to say that I’ve represented England at Under-21 level is great.

“The lads were brilliant every time you went away. I enjoyed every meet-up and every game and we got some good results along the way.

“I remember that Romania game really well. It was a great occasion, Carrow Road was packed out and we got the win to take over there for the second leg.

“And we’ve got a great squad for the Serbia game, so hopefully we can get another good result at Norwich and get to another Euro Finals.”

Albrighton, who earned eight Under-21 caps, played for the first time this season in the 1-1 draw against West Brom late last month, following a lengthy lay-off with a broken foot.

And while he acknowledges that he has a long way to go before he regains full fitness he does admit that he has designs on eventually breaking into Roy Hodgson’s squad.

Albrighton added: “Everyone has got ambitions of playing for England and hopefully I can do that in the future.

“I just need to concentrate on staying fit more than anything for now. But if I can get as many games in for Villa as possible and perform well then hopefully I’ll give the England Manager something to think about."