VIDEO: Fielding 'desperate' to qualify
Jamie Bradbury in Botosani
Monday, 11 October, 2010
The Blackburn stopper says England are going all out for the win.
Click here to watch the full interview with Frankie Fielding
The second leg of England Under-21s' Euro 2011 play-off against Romania in Botosani is fast approaching and goalkeeper Frank Fielding says the team are desperate to get the result that will take them to the Finals next summer.
Stuart Pearce’s men beat their play-off rivals in Norwich on Friday as goals from Jordan Henderson and Chris Smalling gave them a narrow 2-1 lead going into the return encounter.
Fielding was in goal and was unlucky to concede for the first time in a Three Lions shirt when Ioan Hora’s cross deflected off the leg of defender Ryan Bertrand before finding the back of the net to make it 1-1 on the night.
However, England showed spirit to come back, and the Blackburn Rovers stopper believes they have the confidence and ability to see them past the tough test on Tuesday afternoon.
“If I start tomorrow this will be my fourth qualifying start and they are the best team I’ve played so far,” Fielding told FATV.
“I’ve just been in the room now watching it (Romania’s goal) with Thommo (Goalkeeping Coach Martin Thomas) and we’ve been looking at images of the game.
“There’s a Romanian guy on the six yard line and my first instinct was that he was going to get a tap in. The video showed me that he’d have got a tap in anyway so I had to go for the first ball. We were disappointed but these things happen and we’ll get over it.
“They have some good individual players and I think it’s going to be a good game, but hopefully we can grind out a result.
“We’ve got to go out for the win. All the boys are confident every game we go in to, we want to go through and want to go to the Championship.”
Since his first call-up to the Under-21s, Fielding has spent most of his time with the squad as understudy to Watford keeper Scott Loach. But with Loach involved in Fabio Capello’s senior squad as back-up to Joe Hart, the 21-year-old has been given the opportunity to stake a claim.
And that he has done, with three successive clean sheets going into Friday’s first leg. Loach’s return to the squad last week may have meant that he’d be given the shout for the number one jersey, but it was Fielding who was rewarded for his sterling performances.
He admitted that it was difficult situation and the first time he’d ever gone head to head with one of his teammates for the starting place, but says the relationship he has with his fellow stoppers, and the whole squad, has made it easier for him to deal with.
“I hadn’t trained much last week and was shocked to be selected, but me and Scott just talked about it before and said we were not bothered who plays just as long as we go through.
“We’re good mates on and off the pitch and it’s the same with Alex (McCarthy) last year. You’ve got to have that bond. When you’re a keeper there’s only one place you can take.
“The standard now is great, like Steeley (Jason Steele) this is his third call-up now and I can see why he’s playing for Middlesbrough every week, and Loachy (Scott Loach) speaks for himself. Then there’s Alex Smithies at Huddersfield, he’s going to be a good keeper as well, so the future looks bright for England.”
He added: “We’re desperate to go through, we all get on with each other and if we go through we’ve got three or four more international games before we go away in the summer. We’re desperate to meet up again as we all get on so well.”
The match kicks off at 2.30pm local time on Tuesday, which is 12.30pm BST, and will be broadcast live on ESPN. You can also follow regular updates here or via www.twitter.com/thefadotcom.