Stuart Pearce's dream of fielding the strongest possible England side at the European Under-21 Championships suffered another blow yesterday when Kieran Gibbs pulled out of the squad.

Arsenal full-back Gibbs became the fourth of six senior internationals head coach Pearce had picked in his provisional 40-man party to withdraw from this month's finals.

Gibbs, 21, was officially ruled out shortly before the squad departed for Denmark yesterday morning, having aggravated an ankle injury as a second-half substitute in Sunday's final warm-up match against Norway.

His withdrawal followed that of Jack Wilshere, Andy Carroll and Micah Richards.

Pearce elected not to replace Gibbs, meaning Middlesbrough left-back Joe Bennett, who earned a call-up to the squad in February, will not take part in the tournament.

Sunderland's Jordan Henderson, who is on the verge of joining Liverpool, and Danny Welbeck are now the only two players left in the squad with senior caps, and the latter is not even fully match fit.

Manchester United striker Welbeck was dogged by knee and hamstring problems during the second half of his season-long loan at Sunderland.

The 20-year-old has not completed 90 minutes for club or country in more than two months ahead of England's championship opener against Spain on Sunday.

There will be no time for Welbeck to ease himself into the finals, with England facing a tough group games.

Matches against Czech Republic and Ukraine follow Sunday's curtain-raiser against Spain.

Along with England, the Spanish are pre-tournament favourites, and they boast more than one senior World Cup-winner in their ranks.