Wales undaunted by size of England task

Wales manager Brian Flynn insists his side have nothing to fear from England in the first leg of their play-off for a place at the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Confidence
Flynn's team defeated France and Romania en route to finishing top of Group 10 and the 53-year-old is calling on them to deliver another surprise at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on Friday evening. "It was at Ninian Park where this team pulled off that fantastic 4-2 win over France in the qualifiers. That in itself will give our players confidence," he said.

Home advantage
Wales have been victims of their own success as Flynn will be without Wayne Hennessey, Chris Gunter, Gareth Bale, Joe Ledley, Ched Evans and Sam Vokes after all six were drafted into John Toshack's senior squad. Even so, Flynn expects a terrific contest as Wales attempt to reach their first U21 finals. "Ninian Park, when full, is a very special place, an intimidating venue for the opposition," he said. "It's great for the home team, not so nice for the away side. We have to make that work to our advantage."

Pearce upbeat
For England coach Stuart Pearce, the objective is not just to qualify for next summer's tournament in Sweden; but to improve on last year's run to the semi-finals in the Netherlands by going on to lift the trophy for the first time since back-to-back wins in 1982 and 1984. Injuries and senior call-ups have hampered his preparations as well, with Richard Stearman and Jack Cork deputising after Micah Richards and Aaron Lennon pulled out earlier in the week. Nonetheless, Pearce remains in positive mood.

Development
"Without a doubt we've matured," the coach said. "The six or seven players who were with us in Holland in 2007 have really given me a cornerstone to build a squad on, and the others have come in and supplemented that. I think we're getting better. The most pleasing thing for me as manager is, whenever we've worked on anything on the training ground, we've had full focus and seen what we're asking of them bearing fruit in a match situation. That, for any manager, is fantastic." Flynn may yet beg to differ.