Blues midfielder Flynn Downes played the full 90 minutes and won his second England U19s cap as the Young Lions thrashed the Faroe Islands 6-0 in the opening game of their European Championships qualifying mini-group at the Trace Arena in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria earlier this evening.
Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah netted four times (one pen) and Elliot Embleton of Sunderland and Nottingham Forest’s Ben Brereton once each.
The England youngsters next face Iceland on Saturday before they complete their fixtures against the host nation next Tuesday, both at the same venue.
The top two nations in the group go through to the elite round of qualifying which will be held in March. The finals are in Finland in July next year.
England are defending the title they won in Georgia in the summer, a team which featured Blues midfielder Andre Dozzell, who still qualifies for the U19s but is out injured, almost certainly for the whole season.
Fellow Blues midfielder Tristan Nydam, who won his first and so far only U19s cap earlier in the season, was named on the standby list for the squad.
England U19s: Ellery Balcombe - Brentford, Ryan Schofield - Huddersfield Town , Jake Turner - Bolton Wanderers, Trevoh Chalobah - Chelsea, Morgan Feeney - Everton, Reece James — Chelsea, Japhet Tanganga - Tottenham Hotspur, Josh Tymon - Stoke City, Dennis Adeniran - Everton, Flynn Downes - Ipswich Town, Elliot Embleton - Sunderland, Mason Mount - Vitesse Arnhem (loan from Chelsea), Ryan Sessegnon - Fulham, Dujon Sterling - Chelsea, Marcus Tavernier - Middlesbrough, Joe Willock - Arsenal, Ben Brereton - Nottingham Forest, George Hirst - Sheffield Wednesday, Reiss Nelson - Arsenal, Edward Nketiah - Arsenal, Jadon Sancho - Borussia Dortmund.