Pearce set for return to Forest

Stuart Pearce can expect a hero's welcome when his England team entertain France next month after the Football Association confirmed that the Under-21 friendly will be played at the City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest FC.

'Strong connections'
Pearce spent 12 years as a teak-tough left-back at Forest, making over 500 appearances and scoring 88 goals, and also gained his first managerial experience there as player-manager in 1996/97. "Going back to the City Ground will obviously be very personal to both myself and my assistant Steve Wigley," Pearce said. "We both have strong connections there and we hope the game will get a good turn-out as the City Ground always produces fantastic crowds no matter what division the team are in."

EURO finals
The 31 March fixture will be England's second match in four days after taking on Norway in Sandefjord the previous Friday, and the team's penultimate friendly before the UEFA European U21 Championship in June. "Playing against teams of this calibre is great preparation for the European Championship and the game will bring us one step closer to Sweden," added Pearce. "It will also help having the players for a full ten days for both the France and Norway games.

Run ended
"We intend on taking a very strong team to meet France in March. Their U21 side has historically been very good and it will be another competitive challenge for us after our game against Ecuador earlier this month." Last week's 3-2 loss to Ecuador in Malaga was England's first defeat in 29 games, a run stretching back to November 2005 when a Franck Ribéry-inspired France denied them a place at the 2006 U21 finals.