 Nugent fires home to get England back into it at Pride Park |
Stuart Pearce saw his England Under-21 side fight back from two goals down to earn a draw against Spain in his first game in charge at Pride Park. Spain took the lead when Roberto Solano capitalised on mistakes by Scott Carson and Curtis Davies to slot in.
Jose Jurado made it 2-0 after good work from Antonio Barragan, with David Nugent pulling one back after a corner.
Substitute Leroy Lita continued his fine scoring form by heading in the equaliser late on from six yards.
England Under-21's manager Stuart Pearce on his side's prospects at the European Under-21 Championship in the summer:
"I said to them if you're going to win tournaments in the summer, sometimes to have a bloody nose on the way to the tournament isn't a bad thing. "The character of the players, credit to them. It takes some guts to come out and play in the second half.
"As I often realised in my career, you learn from times when you've not done so well."
England U21: Carson (Hart 82), Hoyte, Davies, Steven Taylor, Andrew Taylor (Rosenior 62), Bentley, Huddlestone (Richardson 52), Reo-Coker, Milner (Lita 62), Nugent, Young (Walcott 46).
Subs Not Used: Alnwick, Cahill, Routledge.
Goals: Nugent 50, Lita 79.
Spain U21: Adan, Barragan, Torrejon (Monreal 61), Sergio Sanchez, Miguel Torres, Alfaro (Mario Suarez 77), Raul Garcia (Granero 77), Pallardo, Soldado (Xisco 61), Jurado, Pedro Leon (Mata 61).
Subs Not Used: Roberto.
Goals: Soldado 34, Jurado 45.
Att: 28,295
Ref: W Collum (Scotland).
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