Aston Villa goalkeeper Scott Carson admits he still can't explain his infamous England gaffe against Croatia.

"I look at it and I don't know how I've done it, I don't know why I've done it," he said, candidly, of the shot from Niko Kranjcar that bounced off the sodden Wembley turf, past his left shoulder and into the gallery of English goalkeeping nightmares.

"I'll face a shot like that hundreds of times and I'll throw my hat on it," he added.

Carson also told The Times: "I've been all around the place, but I have only played 70 or 80 games in first-team football.

"It may be two or three hundred before I can be everything I can be."

Villa boss Martin O'Neill has been impressed by Carson's eagerness to improve and also the way he recovered after the match against Croatia.

"I have been spoilt by playing in front of two of the best goalkeepers that ever lived, Pat Jennings and Peter Shilton, so I expect my keepers to be world-class," O'Neill said. "That makes it tough for Scott, but I'm seeing the improvement.

"I think I said to him, half-jokingly, after Croatia that I remember Shilton making a big, big mistake in the '73 World Cup qualifier against Poland. There were terrible recriminations, England not going to the World Cup and Sir Alf Ramsey leaving. Shilts went on to be the best goalkeeper in the world and I've told Scott if he has half his career, we'll all be delighted."