James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor, the Aston Villa players, are among the England Under-21 regulars keeping their fingers crossed that exclusion from Stuart Pearce’s squad for the friendly match against the Czech Republic at Bramall Lane on Tuesday will lead to senior call-ups.

Fabio Capello, the England manager, will name his squad at the weekend for the friendly away to Germany on Wednesday. While he was observing the contrasting fortunes of Andrew Johnson, the Fulham forward, and Michael Owen, of Newcastle United, at Craven Cottage on Sunday, Franco Baldini, the England general manager, was at Villa Park, where the form of Milner, the under-21s’ record cap-holder, caught the eye. It is thought that Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, Milner’s team-mates, have been pencilled in for action in Berlin.

Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper, and David Wheater, the Middlesbrough defender, were invited — with Agbonlahor — to fly to join the senior squad for last month’s 3-1 win away to Belarus after helping the under-21s to secure a place in next summer’s European Championship finals by defeating Wales 5-4 on aggregate. Hart and Wheater have also been left out by Pearce, as has Tom Huddlestone, who has impressed since Harry Redknapp took over as manager at Tottenham Hotspur. Steven Taylor, the Newcastle defender and England Under-21 captain, and Mark Noble, of West Ham United, are omitted by Pearce after injury.

Micah Richards, the Manchester City defender, and Aaron Lennon, the Tottenham winger, are in the squad as they seek to re-establish their reputations. Pearce has called up Kyle Naughton, the Sheffield United defender, and Fabian Delph, Leeds United’s highly rated 18-year-old. “This is the squad I wanted,” Pearce said. “I spoke with Fabio and he was happy with it. It is totally independent of what he might pick. There are one or two of the experienced heads that I didn’t need to see.”