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Cape Town - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed he would be more than happy
to play for the England Under-21 team at next year's European Under-21
Championship finals.
The Young Lions secured their qualification to the 2015 showpiece this week after seeing off Croatia U21s 2-1 at the Stadion Cibalia, making it four straight wins for Stuart Pearce's men.
There are now a host of England first-team regulars who could drop back to the Under-21s, including Oxlade-Chamberlain and his Arsenal team-mates Jack Wilshere and Calum Chambers, as well as Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling.
And, when asked if he would consider playing at next year's tournament, Oxlade-Chamberlain told BT Sports: "Yes, you'd never turn your nose up at something like that.
"But there's a lot that goes into that because the national team have two games around the same time as the tournament. So it's up to Roy Hodgson to decide what he wants.
"There's a lot of players in the England squad at the moment that could drop back down and play for the Under-21s so it's up to the manager to decide."
He continued: "When that time comes around I'll have to think about it. Gareth (Southgate) might not even want me. It's a discussion that will be had closer to the time with the England manager, someone at Arsenal and Gareth Southgate.
"It's a good thing that people aren't being held back to play in the senior side if the manager thinks they're ready. At the same time I do think we take our Under-21s seriously."
The Young Lions secured their qualification to the 2015 showpiece this week after seeing off Croatia U21s 2-1 at the Stadion Cibalia, making it four straight wins for Stuart Pearce's men.
There are now a host of England first-team regulars who could drop back to the Under-21s, including Oxlade-Chamberlain and his Arsenal team-mates Jack Wilshere and Calum Chambers, as well as Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling.
And, when asked if he would consider playing at next year's tournament, Oxlade-Chamberlain told BT Sports: "Yes, you'd never turn your nose up at something like that.
"But there's a lot that goes into that because the national team have two games around the same time as the tournament. So it's up to Roy Hodgson to decide what he wants.
"There's a lot of players in the England squad at the moment that could drop back down and play for the Under-21s so it's up to the manager to decide."
He continued: "When that time comes around I'll have to think about it. Gareth (Southgate) might not even want me. It's a discussion that will be had closer to the time with the England manager, someone at Arsenal and Gareth Southgate.
"It's a good thing that people aren't being held back to play in the senior side if the manager thinks they're ready. At the same time I do think we take our Under-21s seriously."
