Stuart Pearce hit out at criticism of his England side in the wake of their European U21 Championship opener against Spain.

The aftermath of Sunday's 1-1 Group B draw in Denmark did little to silence those who have branded English players technically inferior to their Spanish counterparts.

Pearce insisted his young team's battling performance in Herning gave him cause for optimism rather than concern.

"We're fantastic at that in our country, at knocking young players, or elevating them ridiculously high," he said.

"I've got no real interest at all in what people speculate and what they write back home.

"They're only doing it because they've got a vested interest somewhere else.

"As a team, we defended very well. I know which team was going to go on and win the game when it went to 1-1."