Declan’s magic moment and he did just fine

Declan Rice became the first West Ham academy produced player to make his England debut – albeit as a 63rd-minute sub – since Frank Lampard stepped out for the Three Lions against Belgium 20 years ago in October 1999.

It looked for a long time as if he would have to wait until Monday or beyond but manager Gareth Southgate decided to protect Dele Alli – after injuries – midway through the second half and at long last the Irons had their first homegrown full England international since Lampard.

It was a magical moment as Dec he took up his club position in defensive midfield and given that he had only been with his new team mates for three days he produced a generally solid performance in the 26 minutes he was on the pitch

Indeed he was involved in the fifth goal – making the first pass in the build-up before Tomas Kalas put through his own net.

After that Declan’s sprayed some familiar forward passes around whenever he had the chance.

He played one poor ball to put Harry Maguire under a bit of pressure but beyond that, he can feel very happy with his contribution to a very fine England performance.

His cover play was fine and was always ready to launch himself into tackles.

Keep em coming Dec – a big international future lies ahead.