Jack Wilshere has clarified his comments about foreign-born players representing England and insists he was not referring to Manchester United teenager Adnan Januzaj.
Tackle hard
When asked about whether foreign players should be allowed to play for England, Wilshere had replied: "We have to remember what we are. We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to beat.
"We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have to remember that."
Wilshere also prefers to see an English coach in charge of the international side, despite being given his chance by Fabio Capello.
He added on Tuesday: "Don't get me wrong, Capello did a lot for my England career.
"He brought me here, gave me my debut and stuck with me from a young age so he was a good manager. But I think it would be better if there was an Englishman."
The situation with players is not clear cut though. There have been plenty of non-English born players who have worn the Three Lions, whilst of the present Under-21 squad, Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica and Wilfried Zaha in Ivory Coast.
"It's a difficult one," admitted England U21 coach Gareth Southgate. "He (Januzaj) has not played for anyone else.
"We have lots of boys in our squad who were not born here, whose families have fled here.
"There are some wonderful stories and they are all incredibly proud to play for England. I'm torn with it. The world is changing. People move and work abroad.
"It is important to know why someone wants to play for you. We seem to have embraced the cricket team that has won the Ashes but it is a really interesting, philosophical debate."
