England U21 boss Stuart Pearce believes Manchester City's young players will still have a chance under the club's big-thinking new owners.

"If you ask whether it'd be helpful to me that more English players play on a given Saturday, then yes, it would be," Pearce said. "If more investment comes in, clubs can afford to pick the best players in the world ... and that will diminish the pool of players I can pick from.

"When I was at City, we had to blood one or two of the youngsters, but, make no mistake, they were good enough. There were some there - Micah Richards, Michael Johnson and Joe Hart - who I think will fight tooth and nail to keep their place in the team and might even have the ability to do so."