Oxlade-Chamberlain bullish over World Cup hopes

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says England are going to the FIFA World Cup looking to win rather than use it as a “stepping stone” for the future.

Manager Roy Hodgson has selected a 23-man squad with plenty of youth and inexperience in major tournaments, but that does not worry Arsenal forward Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Youngsters like Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling have all been rewarded for superb domestic seasons with a place on the plane to Brazil.

And Oxlade-Chamberlain, who featured at UEFA Euro 2012, believes such freshness around the squad can work to England’s advantage.

“There are some new boys coming into the squad and hopefully this is something special,” he told The Sun. “To do well at a new competition, you need a lot of good performances.

“We are going there with the belief we can do well and believe we can win it. We are not going there as a young team thinking this is a stepping stone.

“We are going there to win. We know it will be difficult and there will be a lot of very good teams in Brazil.

“All of us in the squad feel as though we deserve to be there and now we want to keep playing a part for England.”

England begin their World Cup preparations with a friendly against Peru at Wembley on Friday, and will face Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in their group at the finals.