Hoops thanks the Hoops for young England call-up

Gary Hooper: A deserved England Under-21 call-up for the ex-Shrimper striker

England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce has named a large 31-man squad for the penultimate England Under-21 get-together, as the Young Lions ready themselves for tests against Denmark and Iceland, and included former Shrimpers striker Gary Hooper, now with SPL leaders Glasgow Celtic.

The Hooperman has netted 15 goals already for Celtic this season and who knows, it could lead to a more senior level if he keeps banging them in for club, and now, country.

Hopper told www.celticfc.net/: "It's an honour to be called up for your country at any level and this is certainly a special moment in my career. I am delighted Stuart Pearce has given me this opportunity and I will do my best to impress when I join up with the squad. I also have to thank my Celtic team-mates and also the management for helping me to achieve this kind of recognition."

England are the top ranked team in Europe, and they visit Viborg in Denmark for a fixture against the UEFA Under-21 European Championship tournament hosts on Thursday, March 24th.

They then play host to Iceland at Preston North End's Deepdale ground on Monday, March 28th.

Pearce told www.thefa.com: "It's a large squad we will take with us to Denmark, mainly because this is our last chance to take a good look at all of the players who are able to stake a claim for place in the final squad for the summer. There are one or two fresh faces in there such as Gary Hooper and Mark Davies but in the main the majority of the players are well known to us and have been involved in the qualifying for the tournament."

And by all accounts the Hoops has a good chance of getting a game.

Pearce continued: "Now's the time for all of the players to impress in the minds of the coaching staff that they want to be the ones stepping on to the plane. At the end of this meet-up I need to be able to make some final decisions about my squad - and I will. Both of the teams we'll face will be in the Championship in June so there can be no better warm-up opportunity for us and there will be no underestimating anyone on our part, and I expect the opposition will be thinking much the same about us."

The squad features some regular Premier League players, including Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal, Micah Richards of Manchester City, Chris Smalling of Manchester United and Chelsea's Josh McEachran.

Goalkeepers
Frankie Fielding (Derby County - loan from Blackburn Rovers), Scott Loach (Watford), Alex Smithies (Huddersfield Town), Alex McCarthy (Reading)

Defender
Nathan Baker (Aston Villa), Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Bristol City - loan from Tottenham), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Ben Mee (Leicester City - loan from Manchester City), Kyle Naughton (Leicester City - loan from Tottenham), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), James Tomkins (West Ham United), Kyle Walker (Aston Villa - loan from Tottenham)

Midfielders
Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), Jack Cork (Burnley - loan from Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Wigan Athletic - loan from Man Utd), Mark Davies (Bolton Wanderers), Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Henri Lansbury (Norwich City - loan from Arsenal), Josh McEachran (Chelsea), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton Wanderers), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City)

Forwards
Nathan Delfouneso (Burnley - loan from Aston Villa), Gary Hooper (Celtic), Daniel Sturridge (Bolton Wanderers - loan from Chelsea), Danny Welbeck (Sunderland - loan from Man Utd), Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town).

The Hooper Files

Hooper playing for Celtic in November 2010
Personal information
Full name	Gary Hooper[1]
Date of birth	26 January 1988 (1988-01-26) (age 23)
Place of birth	Loughton, England
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Celtic
Number	88
Youth career
	Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004-2006	Grays Athletic	69	(20)
2006-2008	Southend United	32	(2)
2007	→ Leyton Orient (loan)	4	(2)
2008	→ Hereford United (loan)	19	(11)
2008-2010	Scunthorpe United	80	(43)
2010-	Celtic	17	(13)
National team‡
2011-	England U-21	0	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 February 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 March 2011