Pearce keeps Hearts' Driver in his range for England

Gavin McCAFFERTY
ENGLAND Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce insists Hearts winger Andrew Driver is very much in his thoughts after watching the winger three times this year.

Pearce was at Tynecastle on Saturday to watch the 21-year-old from Oldham help his side beat Rangers. With England set to travel to Sweden for next summer's European Under-21 Championships, it was the perfect opportunity for the player to make an impression.

"Any player who is playing first-team football in a top league is on my radar," said Pearce. "I do my job thoroughly and get on planes to go wherever it takes to see players. He's a young lad who is in the age group and doing well for his club."

Pearce, who is also an assistant coach to England manager Fabio Capello, had scouts at the recent game against Falkirk and was provided with a report on Driver's brilliant goal, which proved to be the winner in Hearts' 2-1 victory.

The former Manchester City head coach would not be drawn on whether Driver had done enough to earn a call-up but insists nothing is impossible, pointing to Ashley Young's rise to the senior England side less than a year after making his Under-21 debut.

"I wasn't at the Falkirk match but our scouts were there and said he scored an outstanding goal," Pearce continued.

"There are a lot of good players in his position but a lot can happen in that age group. Just look at what happened to Ashley Young."

Hearts trained at Tynecastle yesterday due to frozen pitches at their Riccarton training complex.

Rather than put the squad through their paces indoors – Riccarton has an astrodome facility – manager Csaba Laszlo opted for the stadium in order to remain outdoors despite the excessively cold weather.

Taken from the Scotsman