'We cannot afford complacency'
Friday, 11 November, 2011
Stuart Pearce says there are bigger challenges ahead for England.
by Jamie Bradbury
Watch Match Highlights from the England's 5-0 win over Iceland right here with FATV
Stuart Pearce says his England Under-21s players will not be getting carried away despite sitting in a healthy position at the top of their Euro 2013 Qualification Group.
The young Lions have won all four of their Group 8 games so far and at the mid-way stage of the campaign and have a five point gap between them and second-placed Norway.
Thursday’s 5-0 win over Iceland in Colchester, which included goals from Marvin Sordell, Martin Kelly, Craig Dawson and a Gary Gardner brace, was their latest result taking then to an impressive tally of 16 goals scored and just one against.
But Pearce believes England will not ‘rest on their laurels’ with another tough game coming up on Monday away in Belgium.
“I am not an individual who does complacency particularly well, so I don't think we will have that in the squad,” he said.
“Whether we are good enough to win the next game or the one after, I have no idea. But the one thing we are not is a complacent outfit which rests on our laurels, to think one, two or three victories are enough.”
Pearce added: “There are bigger challenges to come. This is my fourth campaign and I am acutely aware of what it will take – you look at the tables from around Europe, Germany have five victories out of five, Italy have won four from four, France with a 100% record.
“That tells me when you get out of here into the play-offs, you are going to come up against a real tough opposition, then when you get to the Finals, it will be even tougher. We cannot afford complacency.”
England’s game in Mons on Monday night is their final game of 2011 and is available to watch live on ESPN.
We'll bring you all the latest updates for the England Under-21s squad here or via www.twitter.com/thefadotcom