Fabio Capello witnessed a man of the match performance from Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell as England Under-21s overcame their Uzbekistan counterparts 2-0 in a one-sided friendly at Ashton Gate.
The England head coach 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.
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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. England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce brought on Jack Cork, Martin 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 Danny Rose broke the deadlock after 64 minutes 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 11 minutes from time when another of their substitute's, Liverpool's Martin Kelly, headed in a centre from Kyle Walker.
Source: PA
