Walcott was a surprise inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson's 2006 World Cup squad as a 17-year-old, but was overlooked by Capello for last summer's tournament in South Africa. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon were chosen as wide men in preference to the Arsenal player. Capello's policy of selecting players in form will act as a massive carrot this season for Walcott. He helped England qualify via the 2-2 draw in Montenegro on Friday evening, despite Wayne Rooney being sent off, thanks to goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent. Walcott, one of four changes from the home win over Wales, said: "I think firstly you've got to play well for your club and the manager will pick players on form. "That is evident - as well as ensuring you are not injured as well. "As a result I'm not going to look too far ahead after what happened to me a couple of years ago (missing out on the World Cup). "Getting the balance right between youth and experience is so difficult in this modern game and the manager has managed to do that. "Like I said, he plays players in form and you always get a chance to play and show what you can do and hopefully we can take that into the tournament when it comes to it. "It is a good carrot to keep your form going knowing what is coming at the end of the season. "But firstly I'm going to be concentrating on Arsenal after the poor start we've had." England once again showed how much of a threat they pose away from home on the counter-attack, and they picked up 10 points from their four away games in the qualifying group. It was in contrast to the unconvincing performances against Montenegro, Switzerland and Wales at Wembley. Walcott said: "A lot of teams have got to come at us when they are at home. "It gives so much more space for the likes of myself, Ashley (Young) and Stewart (Downing). "It makes our job so much easier but with the pace and the young and experienced players we've got now, it is a good balance." Walcott added: "There are mixed emotions in the dressing room afterwards because they scored their late equaliser. Montenegro going through as well (to the play-offs) is great for them. "But we are happy. We just needed to get a draw. We didn't go out to get a draw. We wanted to win the game but maybe there was a lapse of concentration in the first half. "If you go in 2-0 up at half-time, it's a great result in but the last 10 minutes of the first half we were quite sloppy and maybe took that into the second half a little bit. "But we got the point for automatic qualification and that is the most important thing."
