Young quietly makes England case by starting to win Capello's trust

The softly-spoken Aston Villa winger was overlooked for the World Cup but is becoming a squad regular after taking his club form to the international stage

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When Ashley Young was asked last week if he had ever been nervous before a game he mentioned his debut for Watford against Millwall in 2003. "It was in the warm up," Young said, "and Kevin Muscat's first words to me were, 'Don't go past me or I will break your legs'."

Young's point was this threat from a defender had the opposite effect to the one intended. "The nerves just left me and I concentrated on playing well," he said. "I scored in that game. I didn't say anything to him afterwards."

Young made his professional debut that day as a substitute for Watford on 13 September 2003. During the game, he was spared the attentions of Muscat. The Australian, who was a brutal player at times, had already been sent off for stamping on Watford's Danny Webber by the time Young came on.

Muscat was infamous for the dreadful tackles he made on Christophe Dugarry and Craig Bellamy, and his words made an impression on the 18-year-old. Now 25, Young is in Fabio Capello's England squad and potentially in line for a start against Montenegro tomorrow, the latest development in an international career that has never really got going in the three years since he made his debut.

Young has only picked up nine caps in that time and only one of them was a start – in a friendly against the Netherlands in August last year. He has transformed himself into one of the Premier League's most effective wingers at Aston Villa but, with England, he has hardly made an impression. He was nowhere near the World Cup squad; in fact he was not even in the provisional 30 that Capello named.

The man himself has a demeanour that is difficult to read: it could be shyness, it might just be standoffishness. Either way, Young is making headway at last for England. His performance against Hungary in the first friendly back after South Africa drew praise from Capello and he has now been named in the last three squads – a sign of his manager's growing trust.

There is a chance Young could start tomorrow night against Montenegro in England's third Euro 2012 qualifier. With Theo Walcott and Frank Lampard injured, and James Milner suspended, a place on the wing is up for grabs. That assumes Adam Johnson will definitely start, which he certainly deserves to. Does Young feel he has done himself justice with England in the past?

"I think I have done. I would have liked to have added a few more caps to what I have so far. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I can do that. There are some important qualifiers coming up and I want to be involved in them.

"It [the World Cup] was a disappointment, but that is in 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. It was a disappointment but 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.

"I saw the games on holiday or at home. Everyone was disappointed, but you cannot dwell on that. We have to focus on the qualifiers now and Euro 2012."

Young was signed by Martin O'Neill for £9.65m – considered a risk at the time but recognised as good business now. O'Neill shaped Young's career and now that his mentor is gone from Villa it remains to be seen what Gérard Houllier will make of him. The Villa manager has already changed his mind once about Young, saying first that he feels he is best deployed as a winger and then asserting his best position is just off the striker.

Young said that playing down the middle was "where I have been told to play for Villa" but there is little chance of him breaking up the Wayne Rooney-Steven Gerrard partnership for England. It is clear that he sees his best chance for his country on the wing. "I am a versatile player who can play left or right and there are a lot of wingers in the squad who are vying for that place."

He was most eloquent on the hot topic of reckless tackling on creative players, a group to which – with his trademark stooped style – he most certainly belongs. "You have to be aware of people tackling you, but you cannot think about that in games too much," Young said. "As a winger you get kicked all the time. It is whether you have that character to get up again and say I am going to beat you or whether you just crumble and do not want to play.

"I am one of those players who have many scars up and down my legs from being kicked but I know I have a job to do and beating my opponent is my goal. I wouldn't say I get the scars every week, but wingers are probably the most fouled players. You have to concentrate on brushing it off and going again."

And what about that threat uttered to him seven years ago? Is there really a part in the modern game for that?

"If you look back to the way things were many years ago, players and tackling, things were different. People evolve and move on," he said. "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. He just said it to wind me up. If you bite the bait and take that then that's down to each individual player."

Winging it: england's other prospects out wide

Joe Cole (56 caps, 10 goals)

The 28-year-old's Liverpool career has not got off to the best of starts, with red cards, missed penalties and ongoing takeover bids. His recent international record does not make pretty reading either, Cole not having started an England game for over two years.

Stewart Downing (23 caps, 0 goals)

Has not won a cap for 18 months but Downing is back in form for his club. Now under Gérard Houllier, the Aston Villa winger has enjoyed a fine start to the campaign and is their joint leading scorer, with three goals already.

Steven Gerrard (87 caps, 19 goals)

After standing in as captain for the summer and rediscovering some of his best international form through being moved into his favoured central position, the Liverpool midfielder would not welcome being ask to move back out wide.

Adam Johnson (4 caps, 2 goals)

Overlooked for the World Cup, but the winger has cemented his place in Fabio Capello's affections this season, impressing on the right and scoring in successive games from the bench last month.

Shaun Wright-Phillips (35 caps, 6 goals)

Restricted to just two starts for Manchester City this season, the right winger presumably welcomes international breaks. However, his last six games for England have come from the bench and he faces a challenge to start.