Josh McEachran made his England Under 21 debut during last night’s 2-0 defeat to Germany in Wiesbaden.

The 17-year-old Chelsea midfielder, from Kirt-lington, came on as an 87th-minute substitute to continue his meteoric rise in the game.

McEachran could do little to affect the result after replacing Aston Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso, but his under 21 cap was another breakthrough in his short career.

And England boss Stuart Pearce found some positives from the game.

He said: “A lot of our players made debuts tonight.

“If you asked the (Connor) Wickhams of this world, and the (Josh) McEachrans, that have got their first cap (then they’d have been happy).”

McEachran, who started his football with Garden City in the Oxford Mail Boys League, made his Chelsea debut during September’s 4-1 victory at Zilina in the Champions League.

In so doing McEachran became the first player to appear in the competition who was born after it started in 1992.

Tonight the spotlight switches to England’s senior team as they take on France at Wembley.