Pearce reveals Capello's 'two strikes and you're out' code for England stars

Stuart Pearce revealed on Thursday night that England players face a strict disciplinary code in the build-up to the World Cup finals - two strikes and you’re out.

Pearce, England under 21s boss and an assistant to Fabio Capello believes the Italian has steered England to the World Cup finals with two qualifying matches to spare thanks to his single-minded determination.

“I’m fortunate enough at the moment that I’m working with a great school-master in Fabio Capello, who treats everyone, from the latest one in the squad to John Terry or David Beckham, exactly the same," said Pearce.

“If you step out of line you’ll be told. If you step out of line twice he won’t tell you again - you go and don’t come back.

“It’s a level playing field and footballers respond to that more than anything. They like things to be fair and even in that dressing room  he’s created that environment.

“Every players is thinking ’if I’m good enough, even though I’m the youngest player, I’ll be in the team; if I’m not good enough, I might have to sit on the bench and watch someone else take my place’.”

Although he believes England have got the talent to perform well at the finals, Pearce believes the players must learn to kill games off.

He  told the LMA’s Annual Management Conference at the Emirates Stadium: "Game management is the one thing where we are really naive. When you are in a cul-de-sac by the corner flag what are you looking to achieve? Get a corner out of it, kill the game, slow the game?

"We play at such a high tempo in this country, when we go to major tournaments we do the same thing and then all of a sudden we run out of gas after four or five games.''

Pearce, who spent four years at Manchester City long before the Abu Dhabi money-men thought of taking the club over, dismissed the idea that he was jealous of the current boss  Mark Hughes.

“No, I have a better job now,” he added. “I was the manager of Manchester City with a football club with expectations that were deep-rooted back to the 60s and 70s when they were a massive club.

“That same expectation is there today as well. But the club four years ago was kept running by the fact that the academy had a nucleus of Micah Richards, Nedum Onouha, Stephen Ireland, probably the best academy in the country.

“It is important that the football club don’t lose that identity, because the community loves the identity of local players that have had the opportunity of coming through and getting in that team.”