By John Barnes

Celtic striker Gary Hooper has praised his team-mates for helping him realise his dream of playing for his country.

Hooper, with 15 goals in his debut season in Scotland, has been called up to Stuart Pearce's England Under-21 squad to face Denmark and Iceland.

"I think it is the performance of the whole team that has helped me out and given me the chances to score the goals," said the 23-year-old forward.

"I'm very excited. It's going to be very good for the family and me."

Hooper can play in the European Under-21 Championship because the qualifying campaign for this tournament began two years ago and it is a player's age at that time that determines his eligibility.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon signed Hooper from Scunthorpe last summer for £2.4m after he had notched more than 50 goals in two seasons.

Since then, Hooper has become a favourite with the Celtic fans for his knack for regularly finding the net, including two goals against rivals Rangers last month.

Anyone who is English and plays football wants to play for their country Gary Hooper

He told the media at Celtic Park: "I didn't really envisage this even though the gaffer brought me in to score goals.

"I had a good start to pre-season then got injured but the service is at the top and that has helped me score goals and get results."

The last big-name star to establish himself in the England set-up after playing at Scunthorpe was Kevin Keegan and Hooper would be delighted if he enjoyed a similar success to the former Liverpool striker.

"Anyone who is English and plays football wants to play for their country and, especially with me starting down in non-league and moving up, it's big for me," said the striker, who began his career at Grays Athletic before moving to Southend.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Hooper, who at one stage was rumoured to be under consideration by Scotland boss Craig Levein, is glad that the country of his birth has come calling.

And he is still confused over whether there was ever really an opportunity for him to play in the dark blue jersey, despite the speculation.

"I don't know what happened with that but Stuart Pearce has put me in the squad," he said.

As for achieving full international honours with England, he added: "We'll just see what happens. The main thing is playing for Celtic and going out for England Under-21s and getting results."

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