Aston Villa midfielder James Milner is determined to establish himself under Fabio Capello after admitting he feared being pigeon-holed as an England Under-21 player.

Milner won a record number of Under-21 caps but had to endure a long wait before making the breakthrough at senior international level.

Milner has now featured in England's last six internationals and could be used as a right-back in tomorrow's friendly against Egypt at Wembley.

Asked if he feared never getting a chance with the senior side, Milner said: "Maybe. When you play a lot of games for the Under-21s, people start to see you as an Under-21 player - and that's it.

"But it is about having that belief, and being in the Under-21s is no bad thing at all. You get great experience from playing there, you learn a lot and you are representing your country, whether it's Under-16s, Under-21s or seniors, so I'd never turn it down.

"I learned a lot from being away and playing all those games and that's what you have to do, take all the experience you can out of it."

Villa boss Martin O'Neill has converted Milner into a central midfielder and it is now his preferred position. But he will be more than happy to switch to a defensive role if required by Capello.

Milner said: "For me, at this moment, centre midfield suits my game. Maybe I can use my work-rate more and get around the pitch and influence the game.

"It is the one position I enjoy the most. You can get on the ball. Sometimes out wide, you have to be very patient and wait for people to bring you into the game.

"That is part of the role, keeping your discipline, keeping your shape and keeping that width for the team. In the middle, you can go and get involved.

"But if the manager asks me to play at right-back, I'll do it to the best of my ability. I would never turn it down. You just want to get out there and play. If he asks me to play there, I'd do it as well as I can."

Milner believes England have lessons to learn from their last international four months ago, when they were beaten by Brazil in Doha. He said: "You look at the game, analyse it and see where you can improve. We will do that and then look forward and see where we can improve.

"We were playing one of the best teams in the world and it is what you take from the game. We know we can perform a lot better than we did that day.

"You use it as a learning experience and hopefully the next time we meet them, if it is in the latter stages of the World Cup, we will play better than we did that day and we'll beat them."

Meanewhile, Milner has criticised the state of the Wembley pitch and claims it is not good enough "for the home of the England team".

Milner was unhappy with the surface during Sunday's Carling Cup final against Manchester United, although he accepts the heavy rain may have been a factor on that occasion.

But Milner feels it has been far from perfect ever since the new national stadium was opened three years ago and in a worst state than some of the lower league pitches Villa have encountered in cup competitions this season.

And he thinks the example to try and emulate is that of Arsenal's pitch in another new stadium at the Emirates.

Milner said: "The Wembley pitch was very difficult to play on. It was slippy, cutting up, and hopefully it can improve because it wasn't good.

"You work as hard as you can to get into a Wembley cup final and it is probably one of the worst pitches you have played on all season. It was worse than the couple of lower league team's pitches we have played on, to be honest.

"Growing up and watching games at the old Wembley, everyone says it was like a carpet. In a cup final, you want to be playing in a great stadium, which it is, on a great pitch. I've played there before so I knew what to expect.

"But the other thing is, it is the home of England and, for us as a team, you want the best surface possible and, at the moment, it is not quite there."