Pearce excited by former Saddlers

Stuart Pearce admits he is “excited” at the prospect of former Walsall defenders Scott Dann and Dan Fox in an England shirt.

The pair are among three new faces in the England under-21 squad that Pearce has named to play Poland at Molineux next week.

Dann and Fox are in the squad along with Albion’s Ishmael Miller and Luke Moore, Villa’s Craig Gardner and Blues’ striker Cameron Jerome. Wolves winger Michael Kightly would have been in the squad but for his ankle injury.

Pearce will run the rule over the former Saddlers men, with Walsall set for a cash payout if Dann plays any part. “The England under-19 manager Brian Eastick tipped me off about them when they were at Walsall,” Pearce said.

“I went to Walsall to watch them play Millwall in the FA Cup and I thought both of them played very well on the day.

“I’ve watched them again since they went to Coventry and the thing that impressed me about them was their ability and how well they played on the day. And they showed me some leadership for two boys who have gone to a new club and stepped up a league to a big club too.

“Every report we’ve had on them the same thing keeps coming back – that they’ve done extremely well. “They deserve to be in the squad and it excites me to have them. Let’s see how they cope with it.”

Wolves are hoping for a bumper crowd when the under-21s visit Molineux next week to put them in line to host more games in the future.

And Pearce – who presented Michael Kightly with the Championship young player of the year award last night – has been delighted with the reaction of the Black Country public to the friendly game. “I think whenever England play, at whatever level, it generates interest,” he said.

“The last three or four matches were near enough sold out and at this time 18,000 tickets have been sold at Wolves. That’s the mark of the interest at this stage and by the time we get nearer the game we might be pushing capacity.

Pearce says he is excited at the prospect of seeing the fringe players trying to stake their claim for a place at Molineux next week.

“The idea is to give a few players who have been patient the chance to play a part,” he said.

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