Should Wilshere join up with the England senior squad?

Jack Wilshere is a player who has had to deal with shooting to fame in a relatively short space of time. A solid performer while on loan at Bolton from Arsenal, Wilshere has broken into the Arsenal first team this season, stealing the limelight away from more established players in most games and showing Arsene Wenger exactly why he can be realistically touted as the ideal replacement for influential captain Cesc Fabregas if and when he leaves for Barcelona. Wilshere will have another chance to prove what he can do in the Premier League in just over a week, and he should impress in a game the Birmingham betting tips suggest the Gunners will win comfortably.

Still, his performances for Arsenal have already caught the eye of Fabio Capello, who is currently preparing his England team for what could be a potential banana skin of against Montenegro at Wembley, and one important decision the England boss will have to get right is whether or not to play Wilshere in the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifier. The football odds suggest the Three Lions should win, but with injuries to key players they could struggle to create chances.

The problem lies in the fact that Arsenal's precocious young talent has been double booked; he is set to feature for the under-21s later today when they take on Romania at Carrow Road in a European Championship play-off, but has also been included in the senior squad. Capello now needs to decide how best to develop a player who could turn out to be a key cog in the England set-up for many years to come.

Stuart Pearce has admitted that it's a tricky balancing act for the young players and is right when he says "if they are not going to play, leave them in the age group where they can actually play 90 minutes". However, Wilshere is a different kettle of fish to other youngsters who perhaps don't have the same level of Premier League and Champions League experience.

If Capello overlooks the youngster for the Montenegro game and England end up struggling to find that deft touch and creativity in midfield that Arsenal fans know Wilshere can provide consistently, criticism will surely be directed towards the England boss. Whatever decision he ends up making, England fans will hope that it turns out to be one that boosts their chances of securing another qualifying win in what has so far been an impressive campaign.