• Euro 2012

Oxlade-Chamberlain: I can handle Euro 2012 pressure

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has impressed for Arsenal this season © PA Photos

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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain insists he can cope with the pressure after he was called up to the England squad for this summer's European Championship.

The Arsenal winger was named in Roy Hodgson's squad to travel to Poland and Ukraine this summer, less than a year after making his Premier League debut.

Having impressed with a series of mature performances for the Gunners this season, the 18-year-old is confident he can replicate his club form for England.

"The way I see it is that if you play football you want to play for clubs like Arsenal and you want to play for a country like England as well," Oxlade-Chamberlain told Arsenal.com.

"You would be silly to want to do these things and not expect people to have high standards. People will support you but they will also expect you to deliver and I think that is all part of it. You have to have some pressure but at the same time you can't get worked up about it - football is football.

"It's like a singer, when they go up on stage the crowd expects a good performance. It's the same with football, when we go onto the pitch people expect us to deliver. We all just have to try and make sure we do our best to do so. We can only do that by working hard and expressing ourselves."

While some camps criticised the delayed appointment of Hodgson as Three Lions boss, Oxlade-Chamberlain is confident the former Liverpool boss will revive England at Euro 2012 and beyond.

"With Roy Hodgson coming in everybody knows he is a really good manager, he has proved that a number of times of this season with West Brom," he said.

"I hope it is a fresh start and hopefully we can make something good happen. On a personal note I am delighted to be a part of it. With a new manager coming in and me being a new member to the squad it is just really good to be a part of it.

"There are younger players coming through now mixed with those with more experience, which is a promising match. You still have to remember the likes of Jack [Wilshere] being injured and obviously Kyle Walker [who is injured] too. There are so many young players coming through for England at the moment, it is looking positive."

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