'James Milner must score more to get into England squad'

James Milner must double his Aston Villa goals tally if he wants to break into Fabio Capello's World Cup squad next season.

That's the message from former England midfielder Steve Hodge, who reckons Milner and West Ham's Mark Noble are among just a handful of players who might make the jump from Stuart Pearce's Under-21 side.

Hodge was part of the last Young Lions side to win the European Under21 Championship in 1984 - and two years later was in the side who suffered quarter-final heartbreak to Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal in Mexico.

But he reckons crossing the divide from the youngsters to the senior side is as hard as ever.

Hodge, now coaching in Nottingham Forest's Academy, said: "There was only me, Mark Hateley and Gary Bailey as third goalkeeper who made the squad that went to Mexico and I don't expect more than three to do it this time.

"The senior group is so tight, and has had such a good run, the manager will be loath to bring anybody in to change the dynamic too much.

"Plus the gap between the Under-21s and a World Cup is huge. People say this group will be in Fabio Capello's mind after doing so well in Sweden, but I think the ones aged 25 or 26 who are on the fringe, like Scott Parker or Michael Carrick, have more chance when push comes to shove.

"I think Joe Hart has a chance as the third goalkeeper if he has a busy season for Birmingham, and Micah Richards could take advantage of being able to play both at right-back and centre-half.

"But somebody like Milner, or Mark Noble - who I rate very highly - has got to do a lot to get their name up in lights and make an impression in midfield, where the competition is so tough.

"They both barely got half a dozen goals in all competitions last year and they've got to do more to show the manager they are in good form."

Hodge got his chance by scoring 10 goals in a season to impress Bobby Robson and reckons Milner, who now has a record 46 Under-21 caps, must do something similar.

He said: "I moved to Villa from Forest to play in the centre of midfield where I could get goals from, and I was then lucky that Bryan Robson had a bad shoulder.

"That's something Milner will have to add to his game. It can be hard to score from out wide where he plays, but he'll need to get his name in big headlines to have a chance."

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