Source: Daily_Mail
Petrov insists Villa pair will be ready for the World Cup if Capello gives them a chance
Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov is confident Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor will be ready for the World Cup if they are included in Fabio Capello's squad.
Young and Agbonlahor have flitted in an out of Capello's plans since the Italian replaced Steve McClaren as England head coach 20 months ago.
PFA Young Player Of The Year Young is back in contention for England's friendly against Slovenia next weekend and the home World Cup qualifier against Croatia on September 9.
Young and Agbonlahor played a key role in Villa securing their first home Barclays Premier League win of the season against Fulham on Sunday, the latter scoring a stunning second goal in a 2-0 triumph.
Petrov told Press Association Sport: 'Both Gabby and Ashley deserve to be in there with England - but don't forget England have great players.
'They are battling; they want to be there. They are pushing for their places in the England squad to go to the World Cup - and they will be doing it all season.
'They deserve to be there. They have a manager (Capello) who will ultimately decide, but I think they are putting their names forward every single time the squad is announced.'
Skipper's backing: Petrov says the pair will be ready for South Africa if they are included in Fabio Capello's squad
Bulgarian star Petrov has no doubt Young and Agbonlahor are at the right stage of their careers to do their country proud.
'They would be ready for the World Cup if they are picked,' he said.
'They perform very well every single week in one of the best leagues in the world - so why not?
'They are still young and, with the ability they have, they are such exciting players.
They will make sure they work for it.'
Agbonlahor showed signs of being back to his best against Fulham after being given an extended summer break by Villa boss Martin O'Neill following his involvement in the European Under-21s Championships in Sweden until the end of June.
Petrov said: 'A lot of people forget Gabby has only been back three weeks. That was his second game since he came back, so he is battling for his fitness.
'Against Liverpool on Monday, he worked his socks hard and was great for the team and never gave up -and it was the same against Fulham. He is working hard to get fit and he will get better and better.'
'It is good to go into the international break on the back of a win,' he confirmed.
'After the first game against Wigan - when we were poor - we were good against Liverpool and carried on against Fulham.
"We are going to have the international break and we hope everyone comes back without any injuries and we are then ready to go again and push on.'
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson admits his side have to become accustomed to playing in Europe in midweek and not use tiredness as an excuse if they under-perform in the Premier League.
He said: 'We have got to get used to Europe, absolutely. To be fair to the players, we are not going to be playing Chelsea and Aston Villa every week after European matches.
'We have been playing two of the top teams in the league. Chelsea are widely regarded as one of the favourites to win the league, and Aston Villa are one of the teams people expect to finish in the top six.
'Let's put the degree of difficulty in perspective as well. But I know myself, the players and the staff are disappointed - because we can do better and we aren't playing to the level I expect us to reach.
'There are some players missing, and we had a long trip to Russia before the Villa game. But the fact is that is what we knew we would have to do - so it's pointless every time to use that as an excuse.
'We have got to find the solutions to the problems.'
