By JANINE SELF

STUART PEARCE is desperate to see his young Lions roar in Sweden next summer.

At least the England Under-21 coach now knows the claws can come out when necessary too.

Gabby Agbonlahor’s cheeky backheel earned Pearce’s boys victory against an enterprising Welsh team at Ninian Park.

It gives them only a slender advantage to take into next Tuesday’s second leg at Villa Park.

But with away goals counting double, it looks inevitable England will be off to the European Championships at the expense of their neighbours.

They had to do it the hard way after Simon Church gave Wales a shock early lead.

Middlesbrough duo David Wheater and Adam Johnson put England back on track only to see Church square last night’s play-off again.

But Aston Villa hitman Agbonlahor struck after 61 minutes to extend England’s amazing sequence to one defeat in 26 games.

England might be in the driving seat but Pearce warned: “If we think our work is done here then we will be badly mistaken.

“The result was everything tonight. We were stretched at times. Wales are a very good side with great spirit — and so are England.

“We will be going to Villa Park to win on Tuesday and we will not be complacent.”

Wales chief Brian Flynn said: “It’s a big ask to go to Villa Park and win but we are capable of scoring there.

"When Simon Church scored his second I was hoping the headline would be ‘Prayers answered by Church’.

“If we put in another performance like that England will know they’ve been in a game.”

Arsenal’s £5million midfielder Aaron Ramsey, 17, played a part in the Welsh opener.

His pass was cut out by Michael Mancienne after 13 minutes but the ball bounced off Stephen Taylor and fell into the path of Church to score.

Six minutes later England were level when Wheater headed home Jamie O’Hara’s corner.

Johnson beat Neal Eardley to put England ahead but Wales hit back before half-time — with Ramsey again the provider and Church the finisher.

No one could complain about the entertainment value — especially Pearce, who would have been thoroughly impressed with Mark Noble’s driving run just after the hour mark.

The West Ham midfielder rolled the ball to Agbonlahor, who calmly backheeled it past Owain fon Williams.

The Stockport keeper then produced two stunning saves to deny James Milner and Noble.

SUN RATINGS

WALES: Fon Williams 7, Eardley 6, Wiggins 6, Collison 7, Blake 6, Adams 7 (Allen 6), King 7 (James 5), Church 7, Ramsey 8, MacDonald 6 (Brown 5), Nyatanga 6. Subs not used: Jacobsen, Taylor, Mike Williams, Marc Williams.

ENGLAND: Hart 6, Wheater 6, O’Hara 7, Cattermole 7, Taylor 6, Mancienne 6, Milner 7, Huddlestone 6, Agbonlahor 6 (Campbell 5), Noble 8, Johnson 8. Subs not used: Steadman, Heaton, Cork, Bertrand, Derbyshire, Ebanks-Blake.