Ashley Young: I haven't been nervous since Kevin Muscat told me he was going to break my legs
Published 23:00 10/10/10 By Martin Lipton
Ashley Young is poised for his first competitive England start tomorrow - and promising he shed all his nerves when he ignored the snarling Lions on his professional debut.
Aston Villa man Young has been pencilled in by Fabio Capello to take over from former club-mate James Milner on the left against surprise Group G front-runners Montenegro at Wembley.
But while the 25-year-old has rarely looked as comfortable in a white shirt as when wearing claret and blue, Young insisted any apprehension disappeared the day he stood up to Millwall's intimidating old lags.
"I don't get nervous, never," said Young, whose only previous England start came in the friendly in Amsterdam at the start of last season.
"The only time I have been was when I made my debut for Watford against Millwall in 2003.
"They had Kevin Muscat in the team and in the warm-up the first thing he said to me was 'don't go past me or I will break your legs!'
"I was 18 coming on for my first game so it wasn't the nicest thing to hear, but you just have to get on with it.
"If you are going to concentrate on your opponent and things he's saying, he's just said it to wind me up, if you bite the bait and take that then that's down to each individual player.
"As it happens, he'd been sent off by the time I came on but the nerves just left me and I concentrated on playing well. I scored as well. I didn't say anything to him at the end."
Perhaps that experience contributed to Young's decision to have German philosopher Friedrich Nietsche's most well-known quotations, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" tattooed on his right arm, with another saying, "If it is not worth fighting for, it is not worth having" making the matching pair.
Yet Young's insistence that he has "done himself justice" in England colours does seem to fly in the face of the evidence.
Having made his debut in Steve McClaren's penultimate game, Young has made just eight more appearances under Capello, adding up to 258 minutes of international duty.
Capello has admitted, more than once, that he has not witnessed the form that saw Young described as "world class" by former Villa boss Martin O'Neill when he has arrived for England duty.
Young, understandably, cites the Ulsterman as the biggest influence on his career to date, although this season, first under Kevin McDonald and subsequently Gerard Houllier, he has mutated from a flank player to operating through the middle.
"I have been delighted to be able to play there and feel I have been more involved for Villa and it has helped us," said the Stevenage-born Young, who may yet overtake Lewis Hamilton as the most famous son of the Hertfordshire town.
"I believe I can play that position, I can play right, play left wherever called upon. And I believe I will do it to the best of my abilities."
Proving that - or failing to - was a major factor in Young's omission from even Capello's provisional World Cup 30, while he has seen Milner, Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott leapfrog him in the pecking order.
Now, with Milner suspended and Walcott and Aaron Lennon both injured, Young gets the chance to show he is, at last, a genuine England player, accepting he has to take it.
"Missing the World Cup was a disappointment," he conceded. "I saw the games on holiday or at home. Everyone was disappointed, but you cannot dwell on that.
"You have to put it to the back of your mind and have the strength of character to say it is a disappointment and build on that. It's the past and I am looking to the future and concentrating on what is happening at present.
"I feel I have started the season really well and concentrated on next few games coming up.
"Before I went on against Hungary the manager spoke to me and just said 'go out there and play with confidence'.
"I am a very confident player, I have confidence in my own ability and just to be told by a manager to go out there and play, as a winger that is what you want to hear.
"Of course, I've only played three minutes since, so I have to keep on improving and working hard in training.
"Everything is a challenge, I have had different challenges throughout my career and obviously this is another tough one. I have every confidence in my own ability and that I can hold down a spot in the team."