England's 'guts' are lauded by Pearce

UNDER-21: Stuart Pearce yesterday hailed his "gutsy" England players after watching them seal a hat-trick of UEFA Under-21 Championship finals appearances with a tense play-off victory over Romania.

England ground out a goalless draw in the second leg of their tie in Botosani, sealing a 2-1 aggregate success and booking a place at next summer’s tournament in Denmark.

Their passage was far from serene, however, with Romania missing several first-half chances to score the goal that would have seen them progress at their opponents’ expense.

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But England also had opportunities of their own and, coupled with Friday’s first-leg win, they deserved to progress.

Head coach Pearce said: “On Friday we played extremely well; (yesterday) we didn’t play extremely well.

“What we did show was determination and it was a really gutsy performance.

“Right through the team, we showed guts and a few things were said at half-time in the dressing room, and the players took that on board.

“We showed some more spirit in the second half of the match and we’re just pleased to be here. The 10-day get-together was about getting two results to get to the finals.”

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