Wilshere keeps U21 place

27 August 2009 17:18
Arsenal teenager Jack Wilshere has kept his place in the England Under-21 squad for the European Championship qualifiers in Macedonia and Greece. The 17-year-old was called up by Stuart Pearce for the friendly against Holland earlier this month and has done enough to secure his position as the youngsters start their route to the 2011 finals in Denmark. Pearce also adds three new faces to the 23-man squad that plays in Prilep, Macedonia, on 4th September and Tripoli in Greece on 8th September. Manchester United's young midfielder Tom Cleverley, Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and Derby defender Miles Addison all join the squad for the first time and will be hoping to make their mark. Pearce told the FA website: "What we have to do as a squad is hit the ground running next week. "We have two very tough qualifiers to start the campaign, both away from home, and we need to make sure we pick up as many points as we can. "Anyone playing well in other age groups we'll take a look at. I obviously get a report from the coaches and a copy of the game to see them all. "It's very early in the season, there's some that have done well for their clubs and some have gone out on loan. Hopefully as the weeks go by we'll have more and more players playing first team football." England Squad: Frankie Fielding, Scott Loach, Alex McCarthy; Ryan Bertrand, Kieran Gibbs, Michael Mancienne, Kyle Naughton, Micah Richards, James Tomkins, Chris Smalling, Miles Addison; Lee Cattermole, Fabien Delph, Fabrice Muamba, Jack Rodwell, Danny Rose, Jack Wilshere, Tom Cleverley; Freddie Sears, Junior Stanislas, Daniel Sturridge, James Vaughan, Danny Welbeck

Source: SKY_Sports