England U21s: Pearce not receiving credit he deserves

Tom Cleverley has flourished since his time with the U21 squad

After Stuart Pearce guided England to four successive European U21 Championship finals, Christian Crowther suggests he should be appreciated more...

Ugly scenes may have marred England U21's play-off win against Serbia but they mustn't mask what is a fantastic achievement by Stuart Pearce and his players.

In reaching a fourth straight European Championship, Pearce has now achieved something that not even Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal or indeed any other nation has managed in the same period.

After the match Pearce kept a dignified tone, despite the accusations of sickening racial abuse, post-match tussles and a pitch invasion as he expressed his sadness over the unsightly events which unfolded at the final whistle.

He said: "It is a real shame because over two ties, it was a really close game - two good teams going hammer and tongs at each other. It is just a shame it was soured in the last few minutes of the second leg of the tie.

"Our players have put a lot of hard effort and sweat to get there. There is a real collectiveness here. We will let the authorities deal with this."

Yet even as England secured their place at in Israel next summer, Pearce will still be considered a figure of ridicule by some.

This may stem from his ultimately unsuccessful spell as manager of Manchester City or his heart-on-sleeve approach to football but one thing that is certain is that his results with the U21s speak for themselves.

Before Pearce arrived in 2007, initially whilst maintaining his job at the Etihad Stadium, England had not even qualified for the previous two tournaments.

A semi-final appearance that year was then followed up by England's first tournament final appearance in 25 years at the 2009 addition, which they lost to Germany, whose youngsters would go on to excel in the following summer's senior World Cup.

However, this still didn't stop Pearce being vilified in the press for England's group-stage exit last year, or criticised for his handling of the Great Britain Olympic team, in particular for omitting David Beckham.

What Pearce has in fact done is create an environment at U21 level where there is not only a commitment to the cause but also a smoother transition to senior level than ever before.

You just have to look at some of the players likely to be involved against Poland on Thursday afternoon for the senior squad, such as Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck, to see how they can flourish after long spells with the U21s.

Welbeck is priced at 7.413/2 to add to his brace against San Marino by getting on the scoresheet and his Manchester United team-mate - set to start in Warsaw - is 9.89/1 to do the same.