Source: Daily_Mail
England Under 21 coach Stuarty Pearce facing skipper dilemma
ShareStuart Pearce will delay naming his captain for England's assault on the European Under 21 Championship until he decides on the identity of his team to face Spain.[LNB] It had been expected that the Under 21 head coach would reveal who he has handing the armband to after Saturday morning's final training session in Federica.[LNB] Centre of attention: Michael Mancienne is favourite to be handed the captain's armband[LNB] Michael Mancienne, who led the team out in the final friendly against Norway last Sunday, is considered the favourite but Pearce dead-batted questions on the issue.[LNB] Should he perform an about-turn, the obvious candidate would be Manchester United-bound defender Phil Jones, whom Pearce described on Thursday as a 'future England captain in the making'.[LNB] For now, Pearce has enough difficulties deciding who he will pick for the Group B opener in Herning as he says training has left with a number of dilemmas.[LNB] 'I won't pick the team until Sunday and it's fair to say the captain will be in that 11,' said Pearce, who has no injury worries now that Ipswich striker Connor Wickham has recovered from a slight ankle problem. [LNB] 'But until I pick the 11, I don't know who it will be. Am I short of leaders? No chance. I've got too many. The attitude of them is fantastic, you watch them in training and the camaraderie among them is amazing. [LNB] Off and running: Pearce has been impressed with attitude of players in training[LNB] 'We have got quite a few options for captain, I think. We will sit down and finalise the team that is going to start this game. We will know it tomorrow morning. We will go with the set up that we think will win us the game. [LNB] 'What I can say about Michael is when he has captained the team in the past, he's got the respect of the players and he has been tremendous as a captain, as well as a player within the team.'[LNB] Though England will be underdogs, they do have a good record against Spain in Under-21 games and have won five of the eight matches they have played.[LNB] The most recent success was during the Group stage of the European Championships in 2009 - goals from Frazier Campbell and James Milner secured a 2-0 win - and Mancienne echoed the squad's thoughts when he spoke of the great anticipation going into the fixture.[LNB] 'We are really excited about the task and can't wait for the tournament to start,' said the Hamburg defender. 'We are concentrating on our own game and we want to do well.'[LNB] Time for Stuart Pearce and the young Lions to prove England's got talentTeam-by-team guide to the European Under 21 Championships in DenmarkLions find teeth! Golden boys Jordan and Jones take focus off absent Wilshere & co [LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: James Milner, Stuart Pearce Places: Spain, United Kingdom, Norway
