Heaton and Campbell eyeing starting roles as Pearce names latest U21 squad

Tom Heaton and Fraizer Campbell’s performances out on loan this season (at Cardiff City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively) continue to keep them in the England U21 picture, Stuart Pearce including both United youngsters in his squad for next week’s friendly against the Czech Republic.

The clash with the Czechs at Bramall Lane next Tuesday (November 18) presents both players with a chance to make Pearce’s starting line-up for the first time. Heaton’s two caps and Campbell’s five have all been off the bench, but Pearce has left out a number of his more established players to give some new call-ups a chance and those absentees include Manchester City keeper Joe Hart and strikers Gabriel Agbonlahor and Theo Walcott, putting both United players bang in contention for a starting berth.

Also included in the squad is Wolves’ Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, a former Red looking for his first cap at U21 level, and Leeds United’s Fabian Delph, another new call-up who has been heavily linked with a January move to United (and a number of other Premier League clubs) over the last couple of weeks.