ENGLAND vs ROMANIA

Young Lions gather in Norwich

Monday, 04 October, 2010

Stuart Pearce calls on the fans as the U21s meet for Euro play-off with Romania.

England v Romania
UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2011
Play-Off First Leg
7.30pm, Friday 8 October 2010
Carrow Road, Norwich City FC
Ticket Details
£10 for adults and £5 for under 16s and over 60s.
Visit www.canarystore.co.uk or call 0844 826 1902.

Stuart Pearce's England squad joined up on Monday ahead of their two-legged UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off against Romania.

The Three Lions meet their opponents at Carrow Road in the first leg on Friday night before heading to the northern Romania town of Botosani for the return game next Tuesday afternoon for a place in next summer's Finals in Denmark on the cards for the winners.

The Coach is looking to guide his charges to a third successive Under-21s Championship and would love to go one better than last time out after a runners-up spot in Sweden 2009 followed and semi-final place in Holland two years earlier.

However, after naming a 23-man squad last week, on Monday he saw three players forced to return to their clubs through injury; Manchester City's Micah Richards, Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Alex Smithies and Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs.

But Pearce wll be hoping that the team spirit that helped them through the final stages of the group phase with wins over Portugal and Lithuania last month will spur his side on through two tough matches with Romania.

"There’s been a great team spirit within the squad this season and the results have been pleasing as well," Pearce told TheFA.com. "Now we’re in the situation of a play-off after the pressure of last month’s games, but I think that will stand them in good stead for these games against Romania.

"It’s a level playing field now. Romania will be just like us and desperate to get to the Finals. It will be an interesting game."

"Romania will be a very direct counter-attacking team, very incisive and very quick. They try to get balls in behind very early when they turn over possession and technically they are a good side."

He continued: "They’ve proved how good they are by making fairly light work of their group, so credit to them for that. Defensively they had one blip when they lost to Latvia 5-1 but they won eight out of the other nine games. So that says something about them."

And as his side gathered for their first training session in Norwich on Monday afternoon, Pearce was looking forward to the match at Carrow Road, where his Under-21s last triumphed in 2007 - a 5-0 victory over Slovakia to see them off to the Euro Championship that summer.

"I’m sure there’ll be a good crowd at Norwich to support us, as they have done in the past, and it’s a lovely part of the world to be in. They are a passionate crowd and the club is on the up again.

"I remember the times when they were in Europe and playing against the likes of Bayern Munich, but they have always had that pedigree and the fans have remained loyal even in the bad times."

He added: "My mum and dad used to live near Norwich, so it was their local club and I know the area very well. It’s always good to come here."

Squad latest