Shropshire Star

England 0 Poland 0

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce insisted last night’s goalless friendly with Poland was still a “worthwhile exercise” despite his experimental side drawing a blank.

Chances were at a premium in what was a largely forgettable match in front of a sell-out Molineux crowd as Pearce gave his fringe players a chance to stake their claims for September’s European Championship qualifier against Portugal and what seems a certain play-off to reach the 2009 finals in Sweden.

With the likes of Mark Noble, Tom Huddlestone, James Milner and Steven Taylor rested for the clash, Pearce’s team took on an unfamiliar look with Daniel Fox, Ryan Shawcross, Jamie O’Hara, Tom Heaton, Fraizer Campbell and Scott Dann all handed their first caps.

With so many new faces it was perhaps no surprise England lacked cohesion at times, but Pearce believes the experience gained will prove to be an invaluable learning curve for his youngsters.

He said. “I have learnt enough from the performance to make it a worthwhile exercise, that’s for sure.

“Even the likes of (Andrew) Surman have not played a great deal. I think it was an important exercise for the likes of him, Cameron (Jerome) and Luke (Moore). They’ve been around the squad but not actually played a great deal.

Experience

“Adam Johnson was given man of the match as well and he’s been in the squad but only made a couple of starts for us, so they’ll all benefit from that experience of playing.

“It will be a good exercise in the long run and the experience they will gain from that will stand them in good stead.”

He added: “We have another friendly on May 15 against the Welsh and I think these two games will be absolutely invaluable games for us in the long run.

“It’s not very often that you can have a look at one or two players - bear in mind we have left six or seven players out of the squad that I know all about, the Milners, the Taylors, the Nobles of this world.”

Jerome, Moore and Campbell, who impressed as a substitute, all spurned opportunities to make their mark and Szymon Pawlowski could have even stolen it for the visitors with five minutes remaining when his low shot crept past the right post.

Former Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Joe Hart, now with Manchester City, had little to do during the first half and was replaced after the break by Heaton.