London: Stuart Pearce has been unable to add Danny Welbeck to his England Under-21 squad to face Norway after Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson voiced concerns over the player's involvement.
Welbeck was a second-half substitute on Friday night as the senior side qualified for Euro 2012, despite surrendering a two-goal lead and having to settle for a point against Montenegro.
Pearce had contacted the Old Trafford boss in the hope of including the 20-year-old striker in his squad for the clash in Norway on Monday, but the Scot was reluctant due to the amount of travelling involved between the two games.
"I spoke to Alex straight after the game [against Montenegro]," Pearce told Sky Sports News.
"I think it was important that we got the game out of the way, the senior game, to find out who contributed within the game."
"I spoke with Alex and he had concerns about travelling from Montenegro and then getting on planes and coming to Oslo and I quite understood that, to be fair."
"I had to make the call because we have only got one striker in the squad so we had a decent chat. I thanked him for his help and consideration and we moved on from there and I quite understood his position."
Pearce had also hoped to include Tottenham defender Kyle Walker but, despite receiving permission from Harry Redknapp, the full-back refused the call-up for personal reasons.
Pearce continued: "I spoke with Harry Redknapp on the same evening as well and he gave us his consent to take Kyle."
"But Kyle's girlfriend is due to have a baby very, very shortly in the next, I think, week or so, and he had concerns about being away from home having been away for a week and that didn't happen."
Comments
0 comment