Stuart Pearce picks strong Under-21s squad to face Norway and France.

Norway v England
5.30pm (GMT), Friday 27 March 2009
Komplett.no Arena, Sandefjord

England v France
8pm, Tuesday 31 March 2009
The City Ground, Nottingham Forest FC

Ticket Details £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, call 0871 226 1980
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Stuart Pearce has named his England Under-21 squad for the upcoming friendlies against Norway and France which will see a return to the City Ground for the former Nottingham Forest favourite.

The two games will serve as a warm up to the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden this summer, with Pearce’s side taking on Norway in Sandefjord on 27 March before heading back to Forest for the France game on 31 March.

Pearce has selected a s strong a squad as possible as he begins to firmly focus on the summer as Manchester City keeper Joe Hart and Aston Villa;s James Milner return.

"We’ve gone past the stage for us to look at new players and I’ve picked the strongest squad available to me," said Pearce.

"It was always on our mind that at this stage of the season. The qualification period, plus the last two friendlies gave us the chance to narrow down our final squad.

"Everyone who has been involved in the campaign have done themselves credit and Players who don’t make the final squad shouldn’t think it’s a slight on them, it’s just evidence of how strong this age group has become."

Pearce believes that both nations will provide a stern test for his side who have lost just once in the last two years: “We wanted to take on a Scandinavian side as we’ve got Finland in the European Championships so Norway was a good option.

“On top of that we wanted another ‘A-line’ nation that hadn’t reached the Finals and they don’t come much better that France, so it’s a fantastic game for us.”

Pearce, who made over 500 appearances in a Forest shirt, is looking forward to meeting up with his squad of players: “The two games will give us a full ten days to work together. We can work on various things, both in the games and on the training pitch.

“It’s not often you get the chance to have that length of time with the players and it’ll be a vital period to prepare for the summer.”

The France game will see Pearce reunited with the Forest faithful and the 46-year-old is counting down the days until he returns to the City Ground: “Forest is the one club that I’m always associated with as I spent twelve years there, eight of those under Cloughie.

“The club means a great deal to me and I always look for their result on a Saturday so to have the opportunity to take a game there is really good for me,”

And Pearce is hoping that Forest fans will be out in force and supporting England’s next generation of up and coming talent: “They are averaging over 20,000 a game and are a hugely supported club in the Championship so it will be a good place for us to play one of our important games in the buildup to the Finals.

“The fact we’re playing France as well means it’s no small game either.”

Pearce has also selected Jack Rodwell, for the first time, Danny Welbeck and Kieran Gibbs, but the trio will meet up for a shorter period, due to games with other England teams.

Rodwell and Welbeck are in the U19s squad for their game against the Czech Republic at Walsall on 25 March and will meet up after when the Under-21s return from Norway. Meanwhile, Gibbs will make the trip to Sandefjord, but will then meet up with the U20s as they take on Italy at QPR on the same night as Pearce men entertain France.

"For me to take the likes of Welbeck and Rodwell from the U19s and say they’ll stay with us, they might not get as much match time, so we feel by giving them a couple of days with the U19s, for them to get a game then come and join the Under-21s, it’ll be a massive benefit," explain Pearce.

"Whilst it means one or two playing at different age groups, we feel that for them it’s the best thing to do.

Pearce added: "The beauty of the U19s game is that it’s on the Wednesday night and it gives me the opportunity to go to Walsall to see the game.

"We want to try and promote this seemless mentality to say that you might get a chance at U19s or Under-21s, but you football education comes first."

England Squad

* selected for France game only
** selected for Norway game only

Match Officials
Referee Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referees Patrick Langkamp and Rob Van De Ven (NED)
Fourth Official Stuart Attwell (ENG)