Stuart Pearce's Young Lions trained ahead of their meeting with Northern Ireland

Stuart Pearce welcomed six new faces on to the training pitch on Monday for their first session with the Under-21s ahead of Tuesday night's game in Blackpool.

After securing qualification to Euro 2013 last month with a 2-0 aggregate play-off win over Serbia, the Young Lions are now beginning their preparations for the Finals.

And Tuesday's meeting with Northern Ireland at Bloomfield Road will provide Pearce with an opportunity to see a number of the fringe players and first-timers in action with one eye on the squad he'll take to Israel in June.

Despite the rain and wet conditions at Blackburn Rovers' training centre, the enthusiastic group looked sharp during the session, with the new players to the group - Derby's Will Hughes, Chelsea's Nat Chalobah, Sheffield United's Harry Maguire, Leicester City's Liam Moore, Bolton's Benik Afobe and Manchester United's Sam Johnstone - all settling in well.

But there was still a number of regulars who have helped the Under-21s qualify for their fourth major Finals in a row. 

Captain Jordan Henderson, Millwall loanee Adam Smith and Sunderland's Connor Wickham lead by example, while winger Tom Ince was no doubt excited ahead of the game at his home ground.

But one player in top form was goalkeeper Ben Amos, on loan at Hull City from Manchester United, who made a number of fine saves during the small-sided game as well as stopping half a dozen well-taken penalties.

You can see our gallery of training photos at the top of the page.