Oxlade-Chamberlain hopes to start again

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says he faces a hard task to retain his starting berth for England’s Euro 2012 match against Sweden on Friday.

The 18-year-old was a surprise inclusion for England’s 1-1 draw with France on Monday but showed maturity beyond his years in what was only his third appearance for his country.

The Arsenal man, signed from Southampton in August 2011, does not know if his performance will warrant a start in Kiev for the crunch Group D game against Sweden.

“I’m only 18 and any chance I get I’ll try to take with two hands. I’m learning from the boys,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told The Sun.

“There is a lot of competition for places. I’m sure there’ll be squad rotation as we’ve got the players to do it and obviously there are a lot of physical demands from game to game.

“Whether I keep my place isn’t for me to say. I’ll keep working hard in training and, if I do get the call again, I’ll give it my all.

“I was surprised to play against France. But having been picked for the squad in the first place, I had to expect that maybe I’d get the call and had to make sure I was ready.

“It was a big honour for me to represent my country in a major competition.”

While relatively satisfied with his own performance, Oxlade-Chamberlain said the fortunes of Roy Hodgson’s team remains the priority.

“Personally, I think it went okay. I showed in small glimpses and parts what I can do,” he said.

“I would have liked to have done a bit better, got on the ball more in different positions where I like to attack players – but it was really hard against a good French side.

“But it’s not about me, it’s about the team. To come away with the result we did was good. For us to concede only one was good. It was a good point.

“Obviously, we would have liked to win and it was unfortunate that we couldn’t hold on to the lead. But the way the game shaped up, they had a lot of possession so a draw was good.

“We can build from here and definitely get stronger. And we showed our quality as well in glimpses.

“We have got quality in the team – and France also have quality. We’ll push on and get stronger from here.”