Wales v England
UEFA European U21 Championship Qualifier
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
8.00pm, Friday 2 September 2005
Live on Sky Sports

Friday night sees the first of two Wales v England clashes this weekend as the Under-21s head to Wrexham for their European Championship qualifier.

But unlike the Senior Team, who then move on to Northern Ireland next week, Peter Taylor’s side have a tough trip to Germany, who currently lead Group 6 on goal difference from the Three Lions.

The Wales game, though, will be a return to the Racehorse Ground for Taylor, who made a scoring debut for England Seniors in a 2-1 win.

A positive result would give England an excellent chance of earning one of the two play-off spots.

“I have good memories of Wrexham because I actually made my England debut at the Racecourse Ground," said Taylor.

"I came on as a sub and scored in a 2-1 win, so a repeat would be really good.”

He added: ”We are desperate to win at least one of the games. With Poland losing to Germany it puts Germany and us in a strong position to qualify for the Finals in May.”

“But we will definitely not be underestimating Wales. They played very well against us at Blackburn and could easily have been 1-0 ahead at half-time.

"Bryan Flynn has done an excellent job as coach and we know they could be dangerous.”

Taylor was able to select a very strong side for this important double-header, initially naming Stewart Downing, Kieran Richardson and Darren Bent, all with senior team experience.

However, an injury to Downing and call-ups to the Sven’s squad for Richardson and Bent gave the opportunity to Chelsea’s Glen Johnson and Wigan’s Leighton Baines to join the U21s party.

“We have some wonderful talents in the squad, and the players know that if they perform well they are in with a shout of getting a chance in the senior squad.

"In the last year we have seen Scott Carson, Stewart Downing, Kieran Richardson and Darren Bent all get called up."

He added: "A major part of the Under-21s is preparing players for the senior squad and they know that Sven is ready to give young players a chance.”

Taylor will wait until Friday to name his starting line-up, and is still uncertain which of his two recent captains will wear the armband in Wrexham.

”I’ve got Gary O’Neil and Nigel Reo-Coker in the squad,” he said.

”Nigel’s been in cracking form of late for West Ham and has been a fine captain for England, but so too was Gary O’Neil before.”

“So I haven’t decided who’ll be captain yet.”

Stay logged on to TheFA.com for all the latest news in the build-up to the two Under-21 matches. You can also see the game live on Sky Sports.