Walcott bolsters strong England lineup

England manager Stuart Pearce has shown his intent for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals by naming Joe Hart, Theo Walcott and James Milner in his squad for friendlies in Norway on 27 March and against France four days later.

Walcott recall
Manchester City FC goalkeeper Hart and Aston Villa FC midfielder Milner were both in the senior squad last month as England lost 2-0 against Spain while Arsenal FC winger Walcott has been a regular for Fabio Capello in FIFA World Cup qualifying, scoring a hat-trick in Croatia, though has only recently returned from a dislocated shoulder. Pearce also has full international experience with the likes of defender Micah Richards and winger Aaron Lennon as his side aim to bounce back from their first loss over 90 minutes in more than three years, last month's 3-2 defeat by Ecuador in Malaga.

'Strongest squad'
"We've gone past the stage for us to look at new players and I've picked the strongest squad available to me," said Pearce, who will lead his side out at his old club home of the City Ground in Nottingham for the France fixture. "We wanted to take on a Scandinavian side as we've got Finland in the European Championship, so Norway was a good option. On top of that we wanted another 'A-line' nation that hadn't reached the finals and they don't come much better that France, so it's a fantastic game for us." Along with Finland, England also play Spain and Germany in the group stage in Sweden.

England squad
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City FC), Scott Loach (Watford FC), Joe Lewis (Peterborough United FC)**.

Defenders: Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal FC)*, Michael Mancienne (Chelsea FC), Nedum Onuoha (Manchester City FC), Micah Richards (Manchester City FC), Andrew Taylor (Middlesbrough FC), Steven Taylor (Newcastle United FC), David Wheater (Middlesbrough FC).

Midfielders: Lee Cattermole (Wigan Athletic FC), Craig Gardner (Aston Villa FC), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Adam Johnson (Middlesbrough FC), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur FC), James Milner (Aston Villa FC), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton Wanderers FC), Mark Noble (West Ham United FC)**, Jamie O'Hara (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Jack Rodwell (Everton FC)**, Theo Walcott (Arsenal FC).

Forwards: Fraizer Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiacos CFP), Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Daniel Welbeck (Manchester United FC)**.

*Norway game only
**France game only