James Tomkins, Junior Stanislas and Freddie Sears could all start for England Under-21s on Tuesday evening after impressing in their opening qualifier of the 2011 UEFA European U21 Championship.
Having come from behind to win 2-1 in FYR Macedonia last Friday, the Young Lions have travelled to Greece for their second Group 9 fixture and the West Ham United trio are all being tipped to figure in Stuart Pearce's XI. The former Hammers defender turned coach is looking to go all the way at the 2011 finals in Denmark after reaching the 2007 semi-finals and the 2009 final.
Greece have also begun well with two wins from two against FYR Macedonia and Lithuania but Pearce is confident - despite the difficulties experienced last Friday before substitute Sears levelled matters and Lee Cattermole struck the winning penalty. "The win against Macedonia was perhaps fortunate, as we didn't play particularly well," Pearce told theFA.com.
"We feel as though we must play better to get a good result against Greece. We know we are going to be in a difficult match on Tuesday as we have a very tight group. Whoever qualifies out of this group is going to be pushed to the extreme. It will be a very good game and with not much to choose between the sides."
As well as Sears' show off the bench, Tomkins earned man of the match plaudits in the last outing while Stanislas started his second consecutive game at U21 level in the No7 shirt. All three are continuing a trend for strong West Ham representation under Pearce, with Nigel Reo-Coker, Anton Ferdinand and Mark Noble previously all being picked by the coach while representing the Hammers.
Holmar Eyjolfsson could also be in action tonight when Iceland Under-21s travel to Northern Ireland Under-21s. Iceland will be looking to get their qualifying campaign back on track after losing their first game to the Czech Republic 2-0. Kick-off at the Coleraine Showgrounds is at 7.30pm.