Wenger warning for Pennant

Wenger warning for Pennant

Pennant broke a curfew imposed by Under-21 boss Platt

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has told Jermaine Pennant not to throw away his talent.

England Under-21 boss David Platt sent the midfielder Jermaine Pennant home from their training camp before their clash with Turkey.

The Arsenal midfielder was sent packing after breaking a curfew imposed by Platt.

And Wenger said: "I hope he'll learn from this as you can understand that young boys make mistakes. But if they don't learn, there's no future for them.

"Some players who appeared for England against Turkey have made mistakes in the past but they have learned from them. His future is down to him now.

"The biggest part of success until 20 is how much talent you have and, after 20, it's how much you want it.

"We want our players to represent the club well and make us proud of them. On this occasion, he didn't do it but that doesn't mean we have to throw him away.

"Everyone in our squad would say this boy is a special talent. But of course what happened to him cannot be repeated or people who have faith in you will lose that."

Wenger could turn to former skipper Tony Adams, who overcame alcohol problems during his successful spell at Highbury, to help guide Pennant in the right direction.

Jermaine didn't act in a professional manner and I dealt with the situation

David Platt

"We will help him to control his life better and someone like Tony Adams could be a big help in that," he revealed.

The Under-21 squad were ordered to remain in their Durham hotel on Saturday night, having arrived from their defeat in Portugal in the early hours of Saturday morning.

But 20-year-old Pennant broke the curfew and was sent home following training on Sunday.

"Jermaine didn't act in a professional manner and I dealt with the situation," Platt told The Sun.

"Part of my job is making people understand what's acceptable and what isn't.

"We are talking about international football here. That sort of behaviour isn't professional preparation."

Matt Jansen, Seth Johnson and Lee Hendrie were all banned from international football for three months after visiting a nightclub during the Euro 2000 Under-21 Championship qualifier in Slovakia.

But Pennant has not stepped out of line before with England and is not likely to be left out of Platt's plans when he names his squad for the games against Croatia and Slovakia in June.