• Arsenal's Jack Wilshere asked to be rested
• Andy Carroll misses the tournament through injury
Stuart Pearce has named his 23-man England squad for next month's Uefa European Under-21s Championship in Denmark. As expected Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Liverpool's Andy Carroll have been excluded from Pearce's selection, the former at the request of the player and the latter through injury.
"Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere will not be part of the Under-21 squad which travels to Denmark. Andy has been ruled out through injury," said Pearce.
"I spoke to Jack last week and he explained that while he told me in March that he wanted to be part of the squad, he now feels he is not in the best condition to take part in the finals. That is based on the number of games he has played for Arsenal this season, sports science data which Jack was presented with last week and concerns he has for his fitness looking ahead to next season. While I am disappointed not to have him with us for the finals I've accepted the situation."
Pearce added: "I am very conscious of the importance of looking after all our players, and that is why I have frequent conversations with club managers throughout the season. I believe that representing your country in international development tournaments can be a great advantage to players, and increases the chances of being successful at senior level."
There are, however, four players with full international caps: Manchester City's Micah Richards, Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs, Manchester United's Danny Welbeck and Sunderland's Jordan Henderson.
The final list will be submitted to Uefa on 1 June before the tournament begins for England on 12 June against Spain in Herning. They then meet Ukraine at the same venue on 15 June and finish their Group B fixtures on 19 June against the Czech Republic. The top two teams qualify for the semi-finals.
Before the team flies to Denmark, England will play Norway in a warm-up fixture at St Mary's Stadium, Southampton on 5 June.
England squad for the Uefa European Under-21s Championship
Frankie Fielding (Derby County), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough), Alex McCarthy (Reading); Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Michael Mancienne (Chelsea), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur); Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Jack Cork (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Henri Lansbury (Arsenal), Fabrice Muamba (Bolton Wanderers), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City); Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United), Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/23/england-under-21s-jack-wilshere
