Young endorses caretaker Pearce

Caretaker England manager Stuart Pearce has won the backing of Manchester United winger Ashley Young, despite losing to the Netherlands.

Under-21 coach Pearce is in temporary charge of England while the FA searches for Fabio Capello’s successor.

England went down 3-2 in an international friendly with the Netherlands on Wednesday, but Young feels Pearce impressed in charge of an inexperienced line-up.

“The last few days have been good,” he said.

“Everybody’s got bonded and got on with the job. We don’t know who’s going to be the manager, but Stuart Pearce was manager for this game and I think he did well.”

“We’re building towards the summer – that’s what we’re looking forward to,” he added, referring to the European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine.

“Some of the new boys that come into the squad who haven’t got so many caps are looking to cement their place and they’re going to get their opportunity to do that.”

Young reserved special praise for his club colleague Danny Welbeck, praising the striker’s work-rate over the course of the match.

“He’s been brilliant for Man United throughout the season and he was brilliant again,” Young said.

“He obviously would’ve wanted to get on the scoresheet, but he ran non-stop and worked hard for us.”

Young netted a dramatic late equaliser to make it 2-2 at Wembley Stadium, only to see England denied a draw when Arjen Robben replied with a winner for the visitors.

“I was delighted to get my goal and delighted with my performance,” Young said.

“It’d been even better if we’d got a draw. The team spirit we showed to get back in the game was vitally important. It’s a sucker blow when you concede right at the death.”