England U21 skipper looking to exact revenge for Germany thrashing

Posted Tuesday, November 16, 2010 by Mirrorfootbal

England Under-21s boss Stuart Pearce last night called up four players to boost his depleted squad ahead of tonight’s friendly against Germany in Wiesbaden.

Ipswich’s Connor Wickham and Tottenham defender Steven Caulker, who is on loan at Bristol City, have been promoted from the under-19s for the first time, joining recalled pair Scott Loach and Kieran Trippier in an 18-man travelling party.

Pearce has been forced to bring in reinforcements after Micah Richards and Chris Smalling were added to Fabio Capello’s senior squad, while Fabrice Muamba, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley and Frank Fielding have all withdrawn due to injury.

Skipper Michael Mancienne is still hurting after England Under-21s’ 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Germany last year - and is looking to make amends tonight.

Stuart Pearce’s young Lions reached the 2009 European Championship final in Sweden, only to be torn apart by a German team featuring the likes of Jerome Boateng, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

Mancienne, who came on as a substitute in that game, is now captain of an Under-21 side that get their preparations for Euro 2011 under way tonight.

“It obviously still hurts as it was a massive defeat,” Mancienne told www.thefa.com.

“They had some good players who went on to do well in the World Cup, so I do want to get one back on them.

“I’m looking forward to the occasion. Germany always have a strong side and it’s good to play against the best. But our team is really good, very strong and I think we’ll do well.

“It’s good for the manager to see some players he’s not had the chance to see and they can show him what they can do. It’s also good to get together and be on these trips to keep us going forward.”

England sealed qualification for next summer’s tournament in Denmark with a two-legged play-off triumph over Romania in October - something that had looked like it might be beyond them in March following a 2-1 defeat to Greece.