Sir Alex Denies Welbz U-21 Game

After spending the summer representing England with the Under-21 squad, Danny Welbeck has made the step up to the senior team.

Wayne Rooney was sent off in England’s last game against Montenegro which gave Welbeck the opportunity to show what he could do.

“We moved on as a team,” said Joe Hart after the game. “Welbeck did really well upfront after he came on and did a great job.”

Injuries have hit the U-21 team though, leaving Stuart Pearce with few attacking options. With a qualifying game in Norway on Monday, Pearce gave Sir Alex Ferguson a call to see if Welbeck would be available, but the manager turned him down.

“I spoke to Alex straight after the game,” said Pearce. “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.”