Steve McClaren is OUT of Strikers for the England's Opener

Theo Walcott is still a pretty long way from making Steve McClaren's squad for Euro 2008 qualifiers. Despite his remarkable debut for England's Under 21 team earlier this month - he scored the opener against Moldova - the Arsenal striker is believed to be more of a future for the English team rather than its present.

"I spoke to Theo and said he needed games. That's why we put him in the under-21s. He has had a couple of run-outs for Arsenal. I spoke to Arsenal's coach Pat Rice last week about him and he has been delighted with him", admitted McClaren.

The former Middlesbrough boss tried to assure the English fans that their new star will not be lost and that Walcott will be part of his squad as soon as he'll gain more international experience. More, as Arsene Wenger already used Walcott in Arsenal's Premiership opener against Aston Villa (1-1), the 17-year old could make the big step later in the qualifying campaign.

"He was and is somebody that I'll be looking very, very closely at. But I just felt he needs a few more games before we consider him. Theo has got great potential, that's the key word, potential. He has to become a regular at Arsenal and break through and consistently perform at that level. He was training with us and he was excellent in training. But at 17 years old, you have a lot of developing to do, and I'm sure we will see that over the years. He's at a big club, he's surrounded by big players and that's when you grow not just physically, technically, tactically, but also mentally. That's something he has to develop. He has to mature, and he's at the right place to do that", concluded Steve McClaren.

England will meet Andorra and Macedonia in the first two qualifying matches for Euro 2008 in the next week. With Walcott sent to the Under 21 squad, Macca will have a big problem setting up a strong offensive line, since Owen, Rooney and Ashton are all missing for injury reasons.