Stuart Pearce believes playing in front of a capacity Colchester crowd will give England under-21s the edge tonight.

The Young Lions take on their Iceland counterparts in a sell-out clash at the Weston Homes Community Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm).

Pearce’s side currently boast a 100 per cent record in their European Championship qualifiers and need a win to maintain their progress in Group Eight.

The last time England under-21s played at the Community Stadium, they beat Lithuania 3-0, last September.

Pearce would love a similar result tonight - and feels the crowd can play their part in helping them achieve success.

Pearce said: “It’s vital that we’re playing in front of a capacity crowd tonight.

“We sold out this stadium three weeks ago and we played in front of a full house at Brighton for the under-19 game.

“That just goes to show the interest and we’re mightly proud of that.

“It also gives us the chance to have a full house behind us and give us an edge to win the game.

“Colchester look after us fantastically well here.

“It’s the second time that we’ve been here in just over a year and both times, we’ve had a fantastic response.

“We’re very grateful.”