Stuart Pearce might have known the response that Fabio Capello was going to give him when, sitting in the England dressing-room after Theo Walcott had scored a hat-trick against Croatia last month, he asked if he could have the Arsenal prodigy back for his next under-21 squad. But Pearce is prepared to take on Arsène Wenger next summer, when, he believes, Walcott’s presence could help England to win the European Under-21 Championship finals in Sweden.

“Fabio didn’t really answer my question,” Pearce, the under-21 coach, said. “He just burst out laughing.” Walcott has been left out of the under-21 squad to face Wales Under-21 at Ninian Park in Cardiff a week tomorrow and at Villa Park four days later — because he will be required by Capello for the senior team’s World Cup qualifiers — but if England prevail in the two-leg play-off, Pearce is adamant that there will be no top-class youngsters left fit and at home during the finals.

David Bentley, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Walcott, who required shoulder surgery, missed the finals last summer, when England lost their semi-final against Holland on penalties.

Walcott, 19, will be eligible for the under-21s’ 2011 campaign and at this rate he could be playing for the next four summers if he doubles up and the senior team qualify for their tournaments, a schedule unlikely to go down well with Wenger, the Arsenal manager.

“I want Theo to represent us in the finals next summer, if we are good enough to get past Wales,” Pearce said. “I have spent a year and a half answering questions, on whether he has not fulfilled his potential, or if he’s a wonder kid. He’s somewhere in between. He is improving and he’s very level-headed.

“I know Theo. He has played a big part in us getting here. If we qualify, he will want to come and play for me. The experience would benefit him and might just tip the scales in us winning this tournament. That’s what it is all about — England winning things.”

England Under-21 squad: Goalkeepers: J Hart (Manchester City), T Heaton (Manchester Utd), J Lewis (Peterborough). Defenders: R Bertrand (Chelsea), M Cranie (Portsmouth), C Gardner (Aston Villa), M Mancienne (Chelsea), M Richards (Manchester City), S Taylor (Newcastle), D Wheater (Middlesbrough). Midfielders: L Cattermole (Wigan), T Huddlestone (Tottenham), A Johnson (Middlesbrough), A Lallana (Southampton), A Lennon (Tottenham), J Milner (Aston Villa), F Muamba (Bolton), M Noble (West Ham), J O’Hara (Tottenham). Forwards: G Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), F Campbell (Manchester Utd), M Derbyshire (Blackburn), S Ebanks-Blake (Wolves).