Stuart Pearce has counted himself out of the running to succeed Fabio Capello as the England manager.

The England Under-21 head coach, having led his team to a second successive European Under-21 Championship semi-final, believes that he is “inept” compared with the man he works alongside at senior level and may need to return to club management to be considered for the top job.

A draw in Halmstad tonight would take Germany through to the last four and enable England to finish top of group B. This would allow them to remain at their base here before a semi-final in Gothenburg on Friday against opponents to be determined by tomorrow’s final group A games.

Even with James Milner suspended and Joe Hart, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Micah Richards among those players likely to be rested, Pearce remains intent on maintaining momentum. Should England win their third successive game and go on to lift the trophy in Malmö next Monday, he wants to prick the hype that suggests he could take over the seniors when Capello steps down, which could be as early as next summer.

“I’m a manager who has been in control of a team for maybe 150 matches over a four-year period,” said Pearce, who had six months in charge of Nottingham Forest in the mid-1990s as well as two years with Manchester City. “For me, that is ridiculously lightly raced as a manager. I feel I have many years in front of me where I have to gain experience.

“It shows how fickle we are in football that maybe two years ago, as Manchester City manager, I was written off. Two years down the line, I’m written back on again. If I lose the semi-final, I’ll be written back off again.

“The England manager’s job is the pinnacle of anyone’s career. When I look at Fabio and watch him work, I realise how inept I am as a manager. Football, and it shames me to say this, is so boom-and-bust, it is frightening.

“I have really enjoyed the last two years working for the FA and I would like to stay for another two years. Trevor [Brooking, the FA director of football development] wants me to stay and I am happy to do that.”

Fixtures with Germany inevitably evoke memories of England’s finest day, when winning the World Cup in 1966, but also of the semi-final shoot-out defeats at Italia ’90 and Euro ’96, in which Pearce figured prominently. Asked whether the pain diminishes, the former England captain fixed his inquisitor with a steely stare and said: “It never mellows. I think about those games because I draw experience from them.

“I will think about them when we go into the game against Germany and I will think about it when we go into a semi-final on Friday. I think about it to learn lessons from it and pass those lessons on to these young players.

“I learnt what the pressure was like from those defeats, the importance of the penalty shoot-out, and in the drugs test after [the 1990 World Cup semi-final], the mentality of the two German players opposite me. They showed no enjoyment at getting to the final. Their mentality was that they had achieved nothing. Their big prize was the following game.”

But Pearce added that the Germans also taught him a lesson about respect, rejecting the opportunity to gloat, which has stuck with him. “The Germany players had some sympathy for myself and Peter Shilton sitting opposite from them,” he said. “That was always a massive lesson for me on how to conduct yourself. It was probably the biggest lesson on the day. I have to make sure my lessons are passed on so that [our players] are ready when we go into semi-finals and finals.”

Germany Under-21 (probable; 4-4-2): M Neuer — A Beck, B Höewedes, J Boateng, M Schmelzer — G Castro, S Khedira, D Aogo, M Marin — M Özil, A Dejagah.

England Under-21 (possible; 4-3-3): J Lewis — M Cranie, M Mancienne, N Onuoha, A Taylor — J Rodwell, M Noble, L Cattermole — T Walcott, F Campbell, A Johnson.

Referee: P Rasmussen (Denmark).

Television: Live on Sky Sports 1 from 7pm (kick-off 7.45pm).