Stuart Pearce spoke of his disappointment at racist
abuse directed towards Nedum Onuoha, but insisted his side would
rise above the controversy to focus on their semi-final with
Holland.
Onuoha - Pearce's former charge at Manchester City - was subjected
to racist abuse from Serbian fans in Nijmegen, and goalscorer Leroy
Lita alleged after the game that Justin Hoyte had also been
targeted in the tunnel.
Whilst registering his unhappiness at the incidents, Pearce called
on his side to put the row behind them and make it a summer to
remember in the European Under 21 Championship.
"I didn't hear it myself but obviously the people on the bench
heard it [abuse towards Onuoha]," Pearce told the website. "There
is no doubt about that.
"It's very, very disappointing, The FA have to do whatever they
deem necessary to do.
"I think one or two things were said, but as far as we are
concerned, as a group of people, we feel we are above that to be
quite honest with you.
"We have got out of the group, we have kept a clean sheet and we
have won 2-0 in a game that lacked a bit of 'oomph'. We like to
feel as though the incident is put to bed.
"The score is 2-0, we have reached the semi-final and that is all
we are concentrating on.
"We have two matches left this summer hopefully, and we have to win
both of them, I'm delighted with the players' input today."
Both sets of players also clashed on the field after Matt
Derbyshire infuriated the Serbian side by scoring the second goal
whilst a defender lay injured on the turf.
However, Pearce defended his striker to the hilt at the end of a
controversial night in Nijmegen.
"Serbia were disappointed, they felt we should have kicked the ball
out of play but I don't think Matty's actually seen the lad down,"
Pearce added.
"If he has seen him down, then in the Premier League we are told to
keep playing and the referee deals with that, if he had seen him he
might have put it out."
Blackburn Rovers striker Derbyshire insisted he did not see the
Serbian player lying injured, as he was so focused on claiming the
second goal of the game.
"To be honest with I didn't see the player on the floor, all I was
looking at was Kieran [Richardson] and bending my run into goal so
I didn't see him there," said Derbyshire.
"At the end of the day I played on to the whistle and luckily we
got through to the semi-final. At the end of the day as a
professional footballer, even in training, you carry on playing
until the whistle blows, definitely."
Derbyshire also admitted he knew nothing of allegations he had been
spat at in the tunnel ruckus that erupted after the final whistle,
adding: "No I didn't have a clue. It's just handbags, people don't
like to lose, they are sore losers and that's about it really."