Ex-Blade takes his chance to impress Capello

Walker was one of the few players in Stuart Pearce’s side to enhance his reputation in Sunday’s 1-1 Group B draw in Denmark, laying on Danny Welbeck’s dramatic 88th-minute equaliser in a game England look set to lose.

The Tottenham full-back also embarked on a succession of lung-busting runs and put in more than one decent cross, taking his chance with both hands after being named as a surprise starter in Herning.

The 21-year-old Sheffield United product could hardly have picked a better time to impress with both England chief Capello and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp looking on at the MCH Arena.

Walker, who earned two senior call-ups while on loan at Aston Villa this year, said: “I’d love to play for my country – it’s my ambition.

“When I first started playing football at seven, that’s what I wanted to do.

“I just have to keep working hard on the training pitch and see what happens from there.”

Walker certainly did enough as an attacking force to expect to keep his place for tomorrow night’s game with Ukraine.

He was also part of a solid England rearguard action led by Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.

Walker said: “I’m a defender – that’s my main job. Attacking’s just a bonus of my game.

“You’re going to need to speak to other people to see if they liked how I defended.”

Walker’s display left head coach Pearce with a selection dilemma, with captain Michael Mancienne having been moved from right-back to midfield.

The captain looked out of his depth and his substitution with a quarter of the game remaining had the desired effect.

Walker certainly had no intention of letting Mancienne pull rank tomorrow night.

“I’ve missed out in the last few games,” he said. “There’s a great squad there and it’s difficult to get a place, so I was happy when my name went up.

“I just have to show that I do deserve the shirt and I’m going to keep it.”

Pearce’s other surprise selection, Tom Cleverley, failed to pay off, with the arrival of Jack Rodwell also making a difference.

But the success of England’s substitutions could not gloss over the fact they were alarmingly second best to a Spain side who, for 75 minutes, suggested their country’s recent domination of world football was set to continue.

Over-confidence was perhaps their undoing and Walker admitted England’s players were conscious of being embarrassed by their opponents’ showboating in the closing stages.

“It is difficult,” he said.

“You get frustrated sometimes but then you have to remind yourself to keep your head.

“We knew that they were going to have a lot of possession but we just had to keep focused and keep talking.

“I thought we upped it, to be fair, in the second half. The gaffer said at half-time we needed to press a bit more and I thought we did that and we got the goal.

“The players we’ve got in the dressing room are quality players and I always felt there was a goal in there somewhere.

“It’s always good to get a point on the board first game and hopefully we can bounce into the next game.

“We’ve got good teams we’re coming up against, Ukraine and Czech Republic, and we just have to keep concentrating.”

Pearce admitted England could not afford to concede possession so cheaply if they are to qualify for the knockout stages.

But if they were to meet Spain again in the final, it is hard to see anything but the same type of game as Sunday night.

Walker said: “If that’s what happens, that’s what happens. We just want the result.”

Team-mate Welbeck admitted he was irked by Spain’s showboating and the Manchester United striker warned them they would be made to pay even more dearly should they do the same if the sides meet again in the final.

Welbeck netted an 88th-minute equaliser in the Group B game to spare his country what would have been a controversial but deserved defeat.

Spain dominated the game virtually from start to finish, keeping possession in a way that has become a hallmark of Spanish sides in recent years.

But they could manage only a 14th-minute goal from Ander Herrera and were made to pay for losing concentration after turning on the tricks in the final 15 minutes.

Asked if that had annoyed him, Welbeck said: “Yes, but that’s football. You’ve got to deal with every situation you come up against.

“I thought we stayed patient as a team and we passed as a team and we got out towards the end and got a goal.

“They’re a good team and that’s how they play. If we meet them in the final, we’ll know what to do.”

Pearce rubbed salt into Spain’s wounds by claiming England would have thrashed them had they had enjoyed as much possession as their opponents did.

“If we had kept the ball away from the Spanish team for that period of time over 90 minutes, we’d have maybe won the game 4-0.

“I was sat on the touchline and even though we didn’t have possession of the ball, I didn’t feel as though the opposition were going to score a goal.”