Saints youngster Lloyd James was the only Saints player to feature in last night’s UEFA Under-21 Championship play-off between Wales and England at Cardiff City’s Ninian Park as he came off the bench with 6 minutes to go, but he was unable to help his country rescue a draw as they suffered a 3-2 defeat.

Saints had two players called into the England squad, Adam Lallana and Jack Cork, but neither featured in the match, although Cork was an unused substitute.

Wales took the lead in the 13th minute when a mixup between Michael Mancienne and Steven Taylor allowed Simon Church a free run on goal and he made no mistake with the finish. Incredibly, that was Wales’ first ever goal against England at Under-21 level.

The visitors were soon level though, and again it was a result of a defensive mix-up. David Wheater climbed highest at the far post to head the ball back into the danger area, but it looked a simple task for the defence to clear it. However, at least three defenders left it for each other and the ball somehow found its way into the corner of the net.

England had the lead on 35 minutes when Mark Noble’s defence-splitting pass set Adam Johnson free, and he beat the covering Neal Eardley before firing past the keeper. That lead was short-lived, however, as Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey justified his £5m price tag by demonstrating fantastic vision to set up Church, who cut inside Taylor before beating Joe Hart in goal with a left-footed drive.

England had much the better of the second half as their greater Premier League experience began to tell. Mark Noble brought a fine save from Williams in the Welsh goal and the West Ham midfielder was involved in what ultimately proved to be the winning goal on the hour. His run to the bye-line set up Gabriel Agbonlahor who cheekily back-heeled the ball past Williams.

Wales continued to probe at England’s uncharacteristically shaky defence, with Ramsey and Shaun MacDonald going closest from long range. England, however, held on to give them a crucial lead going into the second leg at Villa Park on Tuesday. Wales showed that the tie is far from over and they will ask plenty of questions of the England side that takes the field in the second leg.

From a Saints perspective, hopefully the three players in the squads will get an opportunity in that game, which will be shown live on Setanta Sports.

Saints’ on-loan defender Jack Cork has been added to the England Under-21 squad for the forthcoming UEFA Under-21 Championship play-off double-header against Wales.

His call-up follows the withdrawal of Micah Richards and Aaron Lennon through injury, and he’ll add to the defensive cover. Lennon’s withdrawal will also increase the chance of Adam Lallana earning his first Under-21 cap, with fierce competition for places among the cream of England’s young talent.

Saints fans can tune in to hopefully see both players in action, along with Wales’ Lloyd James, on Sky Sports 1 on Friday night.

Adam Lallana’s excellent early-season form has been rewarded by a call-up to the England Under-21squad for the UEFA U21 Championship play-off double-header against Wales.

Stuart Pearce has obviously liked what he has seen from the 20-year-old, and he is part of a 23-man squad for the games at Ninian Park and Villa Park.

It’s perhaps a bit much at this stage to expect him to walk straight into the team for either of the two games, but he’s clearly demonstrated so far this season that he’s among the country’s elite set of young players, so I wouldn’t expect him to be overawed by the occasion should he get an opportunity.

Lallana joins ex-Saint Martin Cranie, currently on loan at Charlton Athletic from Portsmouth, in the squad.

While the honour is a great one for both the player and the club, it will undoubtedly provoke increased speculation and rumour as to his future, with Spurs and Fulham reportedly having been interested during the last transfer window.

Former Saints star Theo Walcott scored a memorable hat-trick in Zagreb this evening to seal an unlikely 4-1 win for England against Croatia.

Wayne Rooney scored the other England goal in a game that brought back memories of that night in Munich when Germany were on the wrong end of an English hiding, and it’s a result that ended Croatia’s 35-game unbeaten home record.

Walcott left Saints in January 2006 in a deal worth up to £12m, although Saints renegotiated some of the additional clauses of that deal at the end of last year in order to aid the cashflow crisis that has engulfed the club in the last 18 months.