Portugal

v

England

 

 

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier
9pm, Tuesday 20 November 2007
Agueda, Portugal

Stuart Pearce says that captain Steven Taylor and Gabriel Agbonlahor are both concerns ahead of England Under-21s' Euro 2009 qualifier in Portugal on Tuesday.

Agbonlahor opened the scoring for England in their 2-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday, but was taken off with a knee injury after an awkward fall midway through the second-half, while Taylor has a problem with his back.

England suffered the withdrawal of six players from the squad originally named for these two fixtures, which could see them all but gaurantee a place in the play-offs, as well as losing key players like Mark Noble, Martin Cranie and Michael Johnson earlier in the month.

However, Pearce will leave it until as late as possible before making a final decision on whether to select them, but he's confident he has enough to cover either player should they miss out.

"We won't know about Gabby and Steven Taylor until the morning of the game," said Pearce on Monday afternoon. "We've spoken with their clubs regularly. The players' well-being is of paramount concern to us. They won't be playing unless we feel they are 100% fit. We are doing everything we can to have them available for us. If they are not fit, someone else will play.

"They are big players at this level, their performances have been outstanding during the campaign and they will be missed if they are not playing, but it gives someone else an opportunity. I've been very impressed with the six new faces that have come in, they have done themselves the power of good, whether they have played or not."

He continued: "Apart from this get-together we've only had the odd injury and it's been a consistent side with the odd individual changing. We've really come up against it here with the amount of players missing but that is something we just have to deal with."

England currently sit six points clear of Portugal and know that a win in Agueda would virtually seal a place in one of the play-offs, with only seven places for the Finals in Sweden up for grabs.

Pearce led the Under-21s in Holland in June as they were knocked out by the hosts after a penalty shoot out. Since then, they have won all five competitive games played this season, scoring eleven goals without conceding, and Pearce believes it will be important to continue that form against a tough Portuguese side.

"It's paramount in any team to be tight defensively, then you have to have a cutting edge. I believe we've got both of those in the squad at the moment. Even though we had to make three changes to the back four in the last match we looked tight defensively. We need to make sure that is the case again because they will be the toughest test of the group.

"If we win the game it puts us in a very strong position in the group. It will also put the pressure on Portugal and they will have to come to our place and beat us at home. It would be nice to put this group to bed.

"We feel if we get to the 18-point mark, historically, you'll be very close to qualification as winners or runners-up. We're on 15 so one point will not satisfy us."

He added: "We're respectful of all Portugal's players. We know full well some of their players have moved up to senior level, we're also aware there are some technical players in their side.

"But we feel we have enough in our ranks to nullify that and enough ability to hurt the opposition."