Pearce praises duo

Stuart Pearce says he had no problem with Jordan Henderson & Phil Jones leaving the squad to discuss their domestic futures.

The England Under-21 manager is preparing his group of players for the Under-21 European Championships in Denmark, which start this weekend, but allowed the duo to go speak to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively. Henderson completed his big money move to Anfield on Thursday whilst Jones underwent a medical at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

England kick off their campaign against Spain missing four of their six fully-capped players after Kieran Gibbs pulled out. He joined fellow Arsenal team-mate Jack Wilshere, as well as Man City's Micah Richards and Liverpool striker Andy Carroll in pulling out, leaving Pearce with just two players who have played for the senior side. Spain in contrast have two World Cup winners in Valencia's Juan Mata and Athletic Bilbao's Javi Martinez. They join Barcelona striker Bojan, who's contesting his second Under-21 tournament.