Pearce arrived back from watching England's 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over the Kazakhs at 4am this morning but was on the training pitch within hours to continue preparations for the European Under-21 Championship in Sweden.

In between that, he also managed to fit in watching a video of tomorrow night's opponents Azerbaijan Under-21 in a friendly at stadium:mk, but fatigue is far from his mind.

"If you can't enjoy working with the best young talent in England and with the seniors when I get time, you need a shot of enthusiasm," he said.

"I've had a long journey but straight away the players give you a lift from their training and enthusiasm and the quality they have. It's a great profession to be involved in.

"It was a good trip. There weren't any problems with the flight and luckily our hotel is only a couple of minutes round the corner from Luton (Airport). And we got a good result so it all went well."

Pearce feels the recent success of England under Fabio Capello has been an inspiration for his young players, and believes a winning mentality has seeped into the junior age groups.

"The players enjoy working with Fabio and that's the main thing," he said.

"There's a lot of enjoyment in the camp and that helps bring results.

"And it's reflected with my squad. Their attitude has been unbelievable. We've been over in Spain for a training camp which went fantastically well.

"The application the players put into every training session has been incredible.

"It's been an absolute delight for me to work with. They've got such enthusiasm."

The former England defender highlighted the attitudes of players such as Micah Richards and Gabby Agbonlahor, who have previously been involved with the senior side but have not sulked about being left out of the World Cup qualifying squad this week in favour of being with the Under-21s.

"Micah Richards, Gabby and Joe Hart have all had first-team experience but want to be here and want to be involved in this championship because they see it as a step forward in their careers," he said.

"Whether it is seniors or Under-21s, it's international experience which will stand them in good stead for being on the plane to South Africa in a year's time."

Of tomorrow's friendly, Pearce added: "We want a performance. We want a good physical work-out. "Afterwards they'll be allowed home for a couple of days to rest, then we'll get together again Thursday.

"Azerbaijan are a good side and we'll have our hands full. We need to make sure a lot of players fill themselves with confidence with their form to take it into the following week.

"The preparation's been absolutely spot-on."

The squad will fly to Sweden on Thursday ahead of their first Group B game against Finland a week tomorrow.

Theo Walcott and James Milner will arrive a day later, having been involved with the seniors this week.