Walcott will be ready - Pearce - Sport in brief

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That was the view of head coach Stuart Pearce after watching his charges come through a thrilling European Championship qualifier 6-3 against Macedonia at the Ricoh Arena.

"If they cop a few injuries then it will be a situation to have a look at him, if Fabio so wishes," said Pearce. "I know Theo and I know what he's like and the passion he's got to represent his country. If there's an opportunity there I'm sure he will do everything he could to be available."

The road to the 2011 European Under-21 Championship in Denmark will be a long one as England look to go one better than their exploits in Sweden earlier this summer, where they finished runners-up to Germany.

Pearce has only recently started working with an almost completely new crop of players, having seen a large part of his 2009 squad become ineligible due to age restrictions.

And he admits the entertaining triumph over Macedonia - in which Andy Carroll and debutant Zavon Hines both grabbed a brace and Kieran Gibbs and Micah Richards also found the net - was something of a learning experience for his youngsters.

"They're getting to know each other as men of a group, they're also getting to know myself and the coaching staff with the more games that go by," said Pearce, who had mixed emotions about the performance.

"At this level we have to win and you have to keep winning matches while you're getting to know people.

"There's a lot of new faces in this squad and we're gelling as a team and getting to know what we want as a team together.

"I think everyone will learn from this week and the important thing is we got three points."