Stuart Pearce has urged his players to make the most of their opportunity at Hull on Tuesday night.
England v Slovenia
International Under-21 Friendly
7.45pm, Tuesday 19 August 2008
KC Stadium, Hull City FC
England v SloveniaInternational Under-21 Friendly7.45pm, Tuesday 19 August 2008KC Stadium, Hull City FC
Ticket Hotline - 0870 837 0004
Group Booking form - click here Charter Standard Club form - click here Stuart Pearce has urged his players to make the most of their opportunity at Hull on Tuesday night, not only for the Under-21s, but also for their senior hopes.
Already Fabio Capello has shown that he is keen to take England’s younger talent with the Senior Team, with the likes of Joe Hart and Theo Walcott among a group of players still eligible for the Under-21s receiving a call.
And Pearce knows that if the players perform to boost their personal ambitions, it will only help his team with an important European Qualifier on the horizon.
Pearce’s side take on Slovenia at the KC Stadium this week, with their final Group Three match against Portugal coming up at the start of next month. The Under-21s Coach, who also has a role as Coach in Capello’s set-up, wants his side to maintain their recent run of results and give them confidence ahead of the match at Wembley.
“We want to win the match. As the manager, I want to be able to go away from here and meet up with the seniors and say to Fabio that at least four or five players, perhaps even more, have done extremely well within the team set-up, the team have won the game, confidence is high, with the game against Portugal at Wembley coming up, and there have been no injuries,” said Pearce following his team's training session at the Stadium on Monday.
“That’s utopia for me as a manager. We want to achieve a feel-good factor.”
He continued: “We’ll be judged on how were do in the competition we are playing in. We’ve given ourselves a reasonable base so far in the qualification campaign. We also have to ensure there’s a platform for these players to show their wares to Fabio at senior level.
“It’s a doubled-edged sword if you like; they need to perform here for me and we need to drive this team forward, but it’s also important that we can come away from any given game and individually the players have nudged Fabio’s arm if you like and he thinks they are good enough for his squad.”
Pearce is also looking forward to a return to Hull, where he played during a very brief stint as a teenager.
And with Hull City beginning their first ever season in the top flight of English football with a win on Saturday, Pearce expects a good night for the fans.
“I was fortunate enough to come here with Manchester City, I think it was one of the first games at the stadium, a pre-season match five years ago or whenever and I was impressed by it then. I’ve also had the honour of playing for Hull City on trial when I was a 17-year-old, so I have a very small link with the club,” he said.
“The club are going in the right direction, they have a fantastic manager who has a wealth of experience.
“It’s a great place to have an Under-21 match. If you can’t get motivated to go out there in this stadium and play on that surface, well I don’t know what. But I don’t think I’ll have that problem.”
Tickets are on sale now priced £10 adults and £5 for U16s and OAPs from the KC Stadium ticket office either in person or by phone on 0870 8370004. For Group Bookings - click here or Charter Standard Club form - click here
Tickets are also on sale now for the match against Portugal at Wembley Stadium on Friday 5 September with most seats costing just £10 for adults and £5 for children from the Hotline 0844 826 2010 or via The FA ticketing site where further information can be found including details of group booking discounts.