Second-half goals from Danny Rose and Martin Kelly saw England Under-21s overcome Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
Rose and Kelly second-half goals seal one-sided friendly
Second-half goals from Danny Rose and Martin Kelly saw England Under-21s overcome Uzbekistan 2-0 on Tuesday.
In a one-sided friendly at Ashton Gate, Rose broke the deadlock on 64 minutes before Kelly doubled the advantage with 12 minutes remaining.
England boss Fabio Capello was among the crowd to witness a man of the match performance from Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell.
The Italian has called up Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs from the Under-21s for Wednesday's meeting with Hungary at Wembley.
But he must have been impressed by the showing of stand-in skipper Rodwell who left the pitch to a standing ovation when replaced by Henri Lansbury after 61 minutes.
Capello came in for criticism for failing to attend the England Under-19s games during the European Championships in France last month.
But he watched proceedings alongside goalkeeping coach Ray Clemence and Football Association director of development Trevor Brooking before leaving his seat after 83 minutes.
It will be one of the few chances Capello will have to watch the Under-21s in action as their matches will be on the same night as the senior squad from September for the Euro qualifiers.
First hand
Capello was also able to take a first hand look at Blackburn keeper Frankie Fielding who has been called up for the Hungary game as a replacement for the injured Ben Foster.
Fielding had a quiet evening and did not have a worthwhile save to make before being replaced by Alex McCarthy in the latter stages.
England knocked the ball around in confident fashion and Phil Jones glanced a header wide from Victor Moses' centre.
Uzbekistan defender Murod Khalmukhamedov was relieved when he sliced an attempted clearance inches over his own bar following a cross by Tom Cleverley.
Khalmukhamedov then cleared a Jones shot off the line and it was 32 minutes before Fielding was called into action in easily dealing with a cross from Otabek Valijonov.
Rodwell was impressing in the centre of the park and one run took him past three challenges before Uzbekistan goalkeeper Sanjar Kuvvatov blocked his shot.
Rodwell's fine pass then left Daniel Sturridge with a clear run at goal but Kuvvatov again did well to keep out his powerful effort.
New faces
England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce brought on Jack Cork, Kelly and Danny Welbeck in place of Jordan Henderson, Jones and Moses at half-time.
Rodwell continued to impress and one perfectly timed run ended with Kuvvatov bravely blocking his shot at close range.
Then Sturridge looked to have the goal at his mercy but he mis-kicked and Kuvvatov was able to gather the loose ball.
England's dominance paid off as Tottenham's Rose broke the deadlock soon after the hour-mark with his second Under-21 goal.
Sturridge's initial shot was blocked but Rose was quick to react and his low left-footed drive from 20 yards out flew into the corner of the net.
Uzbekistan squandered their best opportunity of the game when Islom Tuhtahujaev headed over from close range.
England made sure of victory 12 minutes from time when another of their substitutes, Liverpool's Kelly, headed in a centre from Kyle Walker.
