Under-21s boosted as Jeffers and Jenas join up

The England Under-21 coach David Platt has commended the attitude of Jermaine Jenas and Francis Jeffers prior to tonight's European Under-21 Championship qualifier against Turkey at St James' Park.

Jenas, the Newcastle United midfielder, and Arsenal's Jeffers were with the senior squad for the 2-0 win in Liechtenstein on Saturday. But the loss of the Newcastle pair Titus Bramble and Shola Ameobi, through suspension, and West Ham's Michael Carrick through injury – all incurred during last Friday's 4-2 defeat in Portugal – has led to the pair reverting to the Under-21 squad.

"They said straight away they wanted to be with the Under-21s," Platt said. "That's a great situation that we need to be in. It's not a case of them having been dropped, it's a case of coming back into the squad."

Platt is hoping he does not lose another West Ham player in Joe Cole for a game England simply cannot afford to lose. The midfielder picked up a niggling injury in training yesterday, but is expected to be fit. Turkey top the group with three wins from three games.