England U21 boss Stuart Pearce believes Theo Walcott is still adjusting to the hype over his move to Arsenal 18 months ago.

Arsenal's £12million superkid (right) is a sure starter against Ireland in Cork on Tuesday.

But "Psycho" says the teenager is being put under too much pressure to live up to the star billing he collected when Sven Goran Eriksson controversially took him to Germany, but never played him. Pearce said: "The name, price tag and expectation all go before him.

"That's tough when you are 18.

"People do forget how young he is and think he should be more established and because of the World Cup the expectation levels went through the roof."