Pearce has faith in England quality

The England manager Stuart Pearce is confident a fully-fit squad will report for duty in Sweden for what he believes will be "the strongest Under-21 tournament there's ever been". Defeated on penalties in the semi-finals at the 2007 UEFA European U21 Championship, England have high hopes of improving on that showing and thrashed Azerbaijan 7-0 in  a final warm-up friendly on Monday despite being without five likely starters – Theo Walcott and James Milner are both with the seniors, while Gabriel Agbonlahor, Nedum Onuoha and Micah Richards missed out with minor knocks. This is what the 47-year-old had to say after the triumph in Milton Keynes.

The performance ...

Stuart Pearce: As a manager you can't hope for more than that – a clean sheet, seven goals scored. There are a few niggles but we've come through relatively unscathed. One or two of the youngsters played very well.

Playing goalkeeper Joe Lewis as a forward for the final 15 minutes after Lee Cattermole picked up a minor calf injury ...

Pearce: With the opening game only a week away we were at a loss to know what to do as we'd used all our outfield subs. Joe came on up front and we're just pleased he didn't get injured. Joe said it's a doddle up there, and that he ran around more than Fraizer Campbell so we might have to look at the video for that one. We didn't want to be disrespectful by taking a player off and not bringing one on, we just hope the opposition didn't realise.

The injury situation ...

Pearce: Gabby's tight on his back, Nedum on his thigh, Micah on his groin and they're all back at their clubs getting treatment over the next couple of days. They'll report again on Thursday when we meet up to travel to Sweden and hopefully by Sunday all the injuries will have cleared up. None of them are in danger of missing out at this stage.

The spirit in the camp ...

Pearce: It's good and we all want to get out there. We've been together for eight days and the attitude in training has been fantastic. They take that camaraderie out on to the pitch and if anyone was to miss out now they'd be crestfallen like the captain was a few days ago when [Steven] Taylor went back to Newcastle. It was the same with [Danny] Welbeck but the others have come in tonight and showed what they're capable of. I'm pleased with what's on the plane going to Sweden. On Friday, Theo [Walcott] and [James] Milner will join us and I'm looking forward to them having a good tournament.

The inclusion of Theo Walcott ...

Pearce: I spoke to Theo and said I'd like you to be at the Under-21s but I wouldn't want to say to Fabio [Capello] to leave him out of the seniors. Theo thinks this tournament would be fantastic – remember he's never played in a major tournament at any age level and it's important for him. I spoke to Arsène [Wenger] and he didn't agree and felt Theo should be in one age group or the other. The important driver though was that Theo wanted to play.

The most important thing from my side is that I need to send my best side to the championship to win a trophy for England and Theo is a very important part of that. Theo hit the best form of his life before Christmas and then got injured for four months which shows you never know when you're going to be out. If I was going to give any advice to anyone it would be play as many games as you can; if selected by your national squad play – it's a great honour to represent your country.

The experience gained in 2007 ...

Pearce: One thing I can guarantee is that 23 players will come back in two or three weeks' time with a fantastic experience of a championship. To a man, 23 of them in 2007 had a great time. There was heartbreak and nervousness but we enjoyed our football and had camaraderie in the group and this squad have the same mentality.

The opening game against Finland ...

Pearce: I think the Finns will be a handful. This is probably the strongest Under-21 tournament there's ever been. Eight teams will go there with a realistic chance of winning it and I don't think there's a favourite. We have to go with the mentality of being competitive, playing flat out, and if we don't we'll be beaten and will be home early – simple as that.