England U21 coach Stuart Pearce is confident Theo Walcott's injury is not serious enough to prevent being called for the full England squad. Walcott turned out for the Under-21 side against Macedonia at Coventry but was substituted at half-time with a dead leg.

There were fears for the Arsenal forward's fitness as he has only recently returned to action following a lengthy lay-off with a back problem, but Pearce maintains that it was just a precautionary measure to make the change.

"He got a dead leg when he bumped into Andy Carroll but he will be fine," said the Under-21 manager.

"I can't see it lasting too long, I would have thought after the weekend he would OK.

"But obviously with his injury record early in the season, the physios thought it was prudent to bring him off the pitch.

"We've looked after him more than probably the injury entails."