Andy Carroll is facing a gruelling summer after he was named in England’s provisional 40-man squad for the Under-21 European Championships in Denmark.
Liverpool were hoping the £35million striker, who has already successfully made the step up to the senior international side, would be left out to allow him to rest at the end of an injury-affected season.
Carroll was sidelined for more than two months with a thigh problem at the start of this year and only returned to action against his former club Newcastle last weekend after another spell on the sidelines due to his knee.
However, England Under-21s boss Stuart Pearce has dismissed fears over his fitness and selected him for the tournament.
After Liverpool’s final game of the season at Aston Villa on May 22, Carroll is set to link up with Fabio Capello’s senior England squad ahead of their Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley on June 4.
After that Carroll will fly to Denmark for the European Under-21 Championships in Denmark which start on June 11.
England face group games against Spain, Ukraine and Czech Republic with the top two qualifying for the semi-finals. The final takes place on June 25 – less than a fortnight before the Reds are likely to start pre-season training.
Despite being 22, Carroll is still eligible for the under-21s as it’s based on his age at the start of the year when qualification began.
Pearce, who will reduce his 40-man squad to 23 by June 1, has defended his decision to pick Carroll.
He has vowed to contact Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to justify the inclusion of Jack Wilshere but insists there is need to do likewise with Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish.
“I’ve spoken with the players and the important thing is obviously the players,” Pearce said.
“I’ll be speaking to any relevant managers that I deem necessary. With Andy Carroll, I don’t think there’s a relevance, really, to speak with the manager there to be quite honest with you.
“I think Jack Wilshere’s a different situation. I think I will have a conversation with Arsene with respect to him and outline my viewpoint on that. But I think the most important thing is England go with a very strong side and a strong squad and hopefully that stands the players in good stead in the future when they step on the pitch for the senior team.”
Pearce believes both Liverpool and England will benefit from Carroll’s participation in the tournament.
“I’ve been involved in football a long time but I’ve never actually seen a team that gets to a final then decides to drop their best players. I think that’s quite silly,” he added.
“I certainly think football’s about gaining experience at whatever level you have to play and when I look back over the previous winners of the U21 tournament over maybe the last 15 years, all of those winners, if you look a couple of years further on, their national sides at senior level have done particularly well.”
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