Pearce wants top U21 players

England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce fears the national team of the future will lack a winning mentality if he is prevented from fielding his strongest team at major tournaments.

Pearce has seen several of his squad, including Phil Jones, Danny Welbeck and Kyle Walker, make the step up to senior England duty during the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, but the former Nottingham Forest defender insists they should still be available for U-21 competitions.

"Until we start putting out our strongest players out at all the tournaments we won't win," Pearce said. "We're England. We're supposed to be one of the stronger powers in the world but until we start fielding our strongest team consistently we'll fail to win trophies and if we fail to win trophies, players won't know what it's like to be in a winning side."

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