Stuart Pearce keeps captaincy under wraps Published on Wednesday 29 February 2012 00:23 STUART Pearce will not formally tell his players who the latest England skipper is until this morning. The interim manager said last week it would be Tuesday or Wednesday before made his decision public. And, after one full training session and another on Monday in which half his players were unable to play any meaningful role, he has opted to leave it until the day of the friendly with World Cup runners-up the Netherlands. "The captain will be announced when the team is announced tomorrow at around 10am," said Pearce yesterday. It is the format I had at Manchester City and the England under-21s and I see no reason to change at this moment in time. It does, however, appear that Pearce has someone in mind. FA officials were anxious to make sure no one jumped to any conclusions about the fact goalkeeper Joe Hart - one of the candidates - had been put forward for yesterday's pre-match press conference, normally the captain's prerogative. Hart has been under consideration though, as have James Milner and Scott Parker. "Joe is an outstanding young goalkeeper," said Pearce. I would never be against naming a goalkeeper. I played with one, Peter Shilton. I wouldn't rule anybody out. He is a big character within the group but at this stage, all we are doing is speculating. The overwhelming favourite is Liverpool's Steven Gerrard. The difficulty appeared to be how Pearce intended to use the 31-year-old given he was a central figure in that gruelling Carling Cup final at Wembley on Sunday and will also be needed by Liverpool for their Saturday lunchtime engagement with Arsenal this weekend. Yet Pearce, whilst eager to reassure Kenny Dalglish he had the player's interests at heart, says there are no issues with Gerrard's fitness and he is available to bridge a gap of over 15 months since his last England appearance. "Steven is fit enough to start," said Pearce. We are acutely aware of the difficulties anyone would have had after playing on Sunday. Steven and Stewart Downing played extra-time and we have had to look after them. Also Scott Parker, with regard to the physical and emotional effort he put in at Arsenal. The important thing is to try and keep everyone fresh. Following the withdrawals of Kyle Walker, Tom Cleverley, Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent, Pearce suffered a further injury blow when Glen Johnson returned to Liverpool. Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott, a surprise omission in the first place, was drafted in. However, the odds are now that Micah Richards will start his first England game in over four years after largely being frozen out by Fabio Capello. Richards is just one of a number of young players who have something to prove against the Dutch and, explaining his decision not to select any more strikers, Pearce said he was actually quite pleased at the fact his three remaining forwards, Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge and Fraizer Campbell, have just four caps between them. "We are in the home run to the Championships," said Pearce. We have to find out about one or two individuals in the squad and this is a great opportunity, against one of the favourites for the tournament. A win tonight could yet lead to Pearce being named as England coach for the European Championship, although he still insists he is not the right man for the job long-term. "The mentality I have today will be the same on Thursday morning, regardless of what happens tomorrow evening," he said. The process of finding the next manager will continue.