EXCLUSIVE Gary Gardner interview: I want to play for England with my brother Craig
Published 13:46 26/11/11 By James Nursey
Gary Gardner starts his senior career today and says his ultimate ambition is to play for England alongside brother Craig.
Highly-rated 6ft 2in Aston Villa midfielder Gardner, 19, is regarded as the Midlands club's top prospect.
He has been capped by England at U17s, U19s, U20s and U21s, for whom he has two goals in four games.
Gardner this week also bagged a hat-trick against Ajax in the NextGen series before securing a month-long loan to Coventry.
And with older sibling Craig, 25, a former England U-21 player with 14 caps, at Premier League Sunderland, the Gardner clan have high hopes.
Gary told MirrorSport: "If we could play together that would be a dream come true and the family would be very proud.
"Especially for England in the senior international team.
"I have played with Craig for Villa in the reserves and we'll see what happens in the future.
"England is our dream and if it happens it would be wonderful but if not hopefully we can still play for a club team together one day."
Gardner is set to debut for Coventry at Brighton today as he bids to improve his fitness after a serious knee injury a year ago.
But the ace has been assured he has a big future at Villa by boss Alex McLeish, adding: "The manager spoke to me and said the best thing would be to go out for a month.
"I want to go there, score goals and win games and help Coventry and then play for Villa."
Older brother Craig has candidly admitted his younger bro Gary has the potential to be better than him.
But modest Gary said: "Craig might say that but he is a proven Premier League player and scored 10 goals last season at Birmingham.
"He is a fantastic player and whoever Craig plays for I support as well.
"We are always in touch with each other and help each other out.
"We take each other's advice because we both know what it is like to be out there playing."
Craig came through the ranks at Villa as a closet Birmingham fan before moving to St Andrews and then Sunderland this summer.
But Gary said: "Villa is the main club I want to play for. I have been there nearly 13 years and supported them for a while.
"As a kid I had loads of kits and followed all sorts of teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona. I just love football."
