Stuart Pearce - Holland will be a lesson

England Under-21 and Team GB Stuart Pearce kicks-off a new adventure as England interim manager as Wembley welcomes the visit of the Dutch national team.

After the unexpected resignation of Fabio Capello, the Three Lions re-start the preparation for Euro 2012 and Pearce is optimistic that his players will learn from facing such a strong side as Holland.

“We have to learn something from a side as good as the Dutch on Wednesday. We have to go into the game being confident and come out of it with a feel-good factor and a decent result. We're testing ourselves against one of the best sides in Europe, without a doubt,” he said.

The manager called a rather inexperienced squad in an attempt to test young players at a higher level and reminded the example of Germany, who had a young generation with members like Mesut Özil or Sami Khedira in the European Under-21 Championship in 2009, only a year before they 'exploded' with the “Mannschaft” in the World Cup a year later.

“Make no mistake, the Germans had a fantastic clutch of talent and I think six or seven ended up going to South Africa. I have no doubts these young men have the ability to deliver a performance.”

Wednesday is captain day

With John Terry stripped of captaincy, Pearce confirmed he will only announce the new skipper this Wednesday when he meets the players, and refused to tip off any favourites as he admits it is a rather delicate decision.

“Captaining England was the proudest moment of my career. If I feel that in my heart I can't take the decision lightly. When you play for your country that is the true pinnacle of anyone's career. That is still the case.”

Friendlies National Teams 2012 2012/02/29, 20:00, Londres England 2:3 Netherlands  Gary Cahill 85'  Ashley Young 90+1'  Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 58'  Arjen Robben 57' 90+2' Video 05:50 Watch video > Match Events >