Newcastle forward looking to emulate hero

Newcastle striker Andy Carroll could follow in the footsteps of his idol at Wembley on Wednesday night when he makes his England debut against France.

It was back in 1992 that a young striker from Gosforth made his England debut against France at Wembley. Alan Shearer started an illustrious international career with a debut goal that day and it saw him become a hero for all lads growing up around Newcastle.

Gateshead-born Carroll has followed in the footsteps of his hero by graduating into the famous Newcastle number nine shirt and will now be looking to copy Shearer's introduction into the England side after being included for the first time by Fabio Capello.

The 21-year-old forward has been in impressive form for Newcastle since their return to their Premier League and Capello recently stated he was impressed by "everything" Carroll did when he scored the winner for his side at the Emirates. The Premier League betting suggested Newcastle could struggle this season, but Carroll's goals have helped fire them up the table.

Despite all the plaudits there have also been questions about Carroll due to his high-profile off-the-field problems, but this is a real opportunity for the powerful striker to make a name for himself at international level and the football betting indicates he has every chance of finding the net tonight.

There is zero chance that Jay Bothroyd will be in the England squad by the time Capello names his squad for the next Euro 2012 qualifying game with Wales come March, but there is a real chance that Carroll could cement himself as a regular England squad member if he impresses on his debut.

If Capello really sees this game as an opportunity to test young players such as Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Keiran Gibbs then it looks good for England going forward.

But this has happened before when he took over, he used younger players then turned to the likes of Jamie Carragher and even Paul Scholes when the more important games came around.

Is he going to do the same this time and discard the youth in favour of more experience if we do qualifying for Euro 2012? The young players are really going to have to impress to ensure there is no chance he cannot keep them in future squads.