No shirt swap for Richardson at Wembley

If any members of the Italy Under-21 team are hoping to leave Wembley tomorrow with a memento from the first match played at the new stadium, there will be no point trying to swap shirts with Kieran Richardson.

"I'll definitely be keeping mine," the Manchester United midfielder said yesterday after the England Under-21 side's first training session at the national stadium. "I'll get it signed by the lads. It's the first game at Wembley. You've got to keep the shirt."

Richardson described his first taste of English football's new home as "magnificent and breathtaking". His only experience of the old stadium had been England's 1-0 defeat against Italy in a World Cup qualifier in 1997, "when I was very young". Richardson, one of the more experienced members of the current party, was actually 12 at the time, which was the age of some of his colleagues when the old stadium staged its last match seven years ago.

A record crowd for an England Under-21 match of 60,000 will attend tomorrow's match, the tickets having sold out in six hours. After last weekend's "community day", this is the second of two trials to decide whether the stadium can be brought into full operation in time for the FA Cup final in May. The pitch is already cutting up in places, but the Wembley ground staff insist there is no long-term problem.

Nigel Pearson, Newcastle United's assistant manager, will be in charge of the team in the place of Stuart Pearce, who has been working with his players at Manchester City this week. Pearce will be at Wembley but not in the dressing room. Pearson, who captained Sheffield Wednesday to victory at Wembley in the 1991 League Cup final, will have the honour of leading out the first England team to play at the stadium.

"I feel for Stuart personally," Pearson said. "I'm in a very privileged position. This is the home of English football and to go out there today was a great feeling."

He added: "Playing our domestic finals at the Millennium Stadium has been a fantastic experience for the people who've been lucky enough to play there. People have talked about the thrill of going there and I don't think it will take any time at all for this stadium to reignite the imaginations of players, managers and coaches alike. And it will be a fantastic stadium for the fans."

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