England U-21s for Wales Playoff

October 2nd, 2008 | by: Daryl | View Comments

Stuart Pearce’s Under 21 team have a big two-legged playoff against Wales this month, with the winner getting a place at the UEFA Under 21 Championship finals.

Here’s the squad he’s picked, plenty of familiar faces:

Keepers:
Hart (Manchester City), Heaton (Manchester Utd), Lewis (Peterborough);
Defenders:
Bertrand (Chelsea), Cranie (Portsmouth), Gardner (Aston Villa), Mancienne (Chelsea), Richards (Manchester City), Taylor (Newcastle), Wheater (Middlesbrough);
Midfielders:
Cattermole (Wigan), Huddlestone (Tottenham), Johnson (Middlesbrough), Lallana (Southampton), Lennon (Tottenham), Milner (Aston Villa), Muamba (Bolton), Noble (West Ham), O’Hara (Tottenham);
Forwards:
Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Campbell (Manchester United), Derbyshire (Blackburn), Ebanks-Blake (Wolves).

First leg is 10th October at Cardiff’s Ninian Park, return leg 14th October at Villa Park. Winner over two legs goes to the 2009 UEFA Under 21 Championships in Sweden next summer.

Nothing confirmed yet obviously, but Pearce has suggested he’ll take the strongest possible squad to Sweden should we qualify, including young Mr. Theo Walcott.