Loach given England nod

28 May 2009 11:03
Watford goalkeeper Scott Loach has been included in England's under-21 squad for next month's European Championship in Sweden. Loach, who turned 21 on Wednesday, will fly out to Spain with the rest of Stuart Pearce's 23-man squad on Sunday for a pre-tournament training camp. The youngsters will then return to home soil to play a friendly against Azerbaijan at stadium:mk on June 8 before finally flying over to Scandinavia. The tournament gets underway on June 15 with England taking on Finland on the same day, before further group games against Spain and Germany on June 18 and 22 respectively. The semi-finals take place on June 26 and the final in Malmo on June 29. With Manchester City's Joe Hart almost certain to be number one, Loach - who has made two substitute appearances for the under-21's - will be competing with Peterborough's Joe Lewis to be first-choice back-up. Theo Walcott, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Micah Richards and Mark Noble, among others, have all been named in a strong squad.

Source: Eurosport