Villa keeper wants top spot

Villa keeper Scott Carson insists he is ready to play his part in England's Euro 2008 destiny on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old made his full debut in Friday's 1-0 friendly win in Austria and was barely tested.

His former mentor at Leeds, Paul Robinson is expected to return for the crucial clash with Croatia at Wembley. But Carson, who is on a season-long loan at Villa, would relish the chance to keep his place.

"I've played in big games before but I'm not thinking I'm going to be playing on Wednesday. I'll just see what happens," said Carson. "It's one game and one clean sheet for me so far so that's a good record, I'm happy with that. Would I be ready for Wednesday? I'm confident like I was on Friday. I was more than confident in my own ability that I could handle it at the top level.

"I think it would be the same on Wednesday but that's down to the manager. He hasn't said anything about it yet."

Carson is refusing to get carried away with his sudden elevation in the England side and believes he is still a relative rookie.

He said: "People ask if I've reached the level where I can be an international keeper from now on but I wouldn't go that far.

"I've only played 90 minutes and didn't have much to do. I haven't reached 100 games in the Premier League yet so there's a long way to go."