| Pearce assures Arsenal over Wilshere • Wilshere may play for England Under-21s and senior team• 'Jack will be fine for a place in the side on Friday'Stuart Pearce has assured Arsène Wenger that he and his team will handle Arsenal's Jack Wilshere with the greatest of care as the England Under-21 side prepare for their European Championship play-off against Romania on Friday.Wilshere is almost certain to play against the Romanians before a sell-out 25,700 crowd at Norwich's Carrow Road before he joins Fabio Capello's squad for next Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifying tie against Montenegro at Wembley.The Under-21s play the return leg of their play-off in Botosani on the same day but their manager, Pearce, maintains a decision on whether Wilshere stays with the England seniors has yet to be made.Wenger believes that once a young player is deemed good enough for full international football his Under-21 days should be over.Wilshere won his first senior cap as an 83rd-minute substitute in the 2-1 friendly win over Hungary in August. However, he was not required by Capello for last month's qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.Speaking at a community visit to Taverham junior school in Norwich today, Pearce said: "Jack is one of the youngest members of the Under-21 squad and for me it is vital that he plays as much football as he can. If we just left him with the seniors this time, he would have missed the game on Friday and I've no idea whether Fabio would pick him to start on Tuesday against Montenegro."The most important thing is the care of the player. Jack will be fine for a place in the side on Friday and then we will make a decision from there in respect of whether Fabio wants him after Friday or whether he plays the second leg with me."It is vitally important the Under-21s get two results and try to get to the finals next summer because that is where the education of young players is. We could fast-track a lot of young players possibly but what is the point of being with the senior squad and not playing? The real experience in football is to actually play."Wenger and Pearce have disagreed over the use of Theo Walcott in the past and the Arsenal manager said he was "surprised" last month that Pearce questioned Wilshere's focus following incidents involving his private life.But Pearce insisted: "I have the utmost respect for Arsène and I think I have got a fantastic relationship with him. It's a good story for the media to wheel out that there is a rift between us and him but he wants the best for Jack and so do I."Meanwhile, Pearce has said that the Newcastle striker Andy Carroll was not included in his squad because he wanted to stay loyal to Daniel Sturridge, Nathan Delfouneso and Danny Welbeck. Carroll, 21, narrowly failed to make Capello's squad for game with Montenegro after his impressive early-season form. He was named in Capello's provisional 30-man list but, after being left out of the starting line-up for Newcastle's game against Manchester City, he was omitted from the final squad.Newcastle's manager, Chris Hughton, pointed to a couple of below-par performances from Carroll, and a virus, when asked about his team selection. Reports have also suggested that Pearce was unhappy with the way Carroll pulled out of the last Under-21 squad with an ankle injury sustained against Wolves."We've had a fantastic squad situation here," said Pearce. "I wanted three strikers in my squad and the three strikers I've got in at the moment have done extremely well for me."There was no room for Andy Carroll in the squad in that respect. I've shown loyalty to the three that have done really well for me at the start of the season. I have not spoken to Andy. Andy will have a big future in international football. Whether that will be in the next squad, I don't know."You have to go through the Under-21s first, he is of that age group and we try to give the players a rounded education at Under-21 and Under-19 level, so when they step on the pitch like a James Milner for example, they have tournament experience and step out on the senior stage like a duck to water."It is easy to sit back and make gut reactions without actually knowing the full facts and the development of players. I watch four or five matches a week and I will pick a squad accordingly to try and get the Under-21s to the finals next summer."England Under-21sEnglandArsenalguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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