Pearce plays discreet England hand

Stuart Pearce said that he would ignore the fresh speculation linking him with the England job and carry on rebuilding the Manchester City team to his satisfaction.

Confirmation by the Football Association of a meeting between Alan Curbishley and the FA chief executive Brian Barwick has triggered another round of rumours about who has also been spoken to and who will be. Pearce is almost certainly on Barwick's list, although it appears a meeting is yet to take place, and probably will not be held until later next week once City's FA Cup fate is sealed.

"England is not a distraction for me because I don't take a great deal of interest in it," he said. "Up to Saturday, my head was full of our game against Portsmouth, now it is full of Aston Villa. The only time England gets mentioned is when I walk into a press conference and get asked the same questions I have been asked the week before and the week before that. Then it gets shelved again.

"I wouldn't say whether I had been approached or I hadn't been. I am sure the FA would want some form of discretion from anyone they interviewed and that is only fair. The whole situation doesn't have a great deal to do with me. It is a decision for other people to make. Hopefully, they will make the right decision and get the right man."

For all his public reservations about his suitability, given Pearce's renowned patriotism it is difficult to imagine him refusingany job in the England coaching set-up. Yet, as City's major trophy drought enters its fourth decade, he wants silverware. "It is important I build something that our supporters and this town can be proud of. You build things by winning things."