Ings’ delight as he crowns first England start with double strike

Ings, on his full debut, claimed a goal in each half, and an assist, as Gareth Southgate’s young Lions recorded a record Under 21 victory at Shrewsbury Town’s Greenhous Meadow.

Midfielder Richard Chaplow, who netted a late winner against Holland’s for England Under 20s at Huddersfield Town in 2004, was the last Claret to score for England at any level.

And Ings, earning his second cap after a substitute appearance against the San Marino in Serravalle last month, was delighted to pull on the Three Lions and get on the scoresheet.

Speaking to the FA.com, he said: “I’m delighted with the goals.

“It was one of those games where we had to be professional and move the ball quickly.

“We did that and I was delighted to get a couple of goals too.

“We showed that ruthlessness, we switched the ball really well and quickly, didn’t hold onto it too much and we took our chances.”

Ings guided home a header off the post from a cross from Blackpool’s Tom Ince for his first goal, and England’s third.

He repaid the favour for Ince to make it 5-0 from a low cross, before sliding in to score the sixth, just ahead of Arsenal right back - and Ings’ England roommate - Carl Jenkinson.

Ings smiled: “He’s been coming after me all week in the room, so that was a little bit of payback.

“It’s all good banter, but it could have been a blue shirt that was coming in with me to clear it, so it’s just my natural instinct to go in and try to score.”

It took Ings’ goal tally to 16 in 21 appearances for club and country, and, indeed, the longest the 21-year-old SkyBet Championship player of the month for October has gone without a goal all season is two games!

Southgate was thrilled with England’s performance against San Marino on Tuesday which keeps them top of their European Championship qualifying group by three points, having played a game fewer, from Moldova.

Southgate called for a killer instinct from his side, and they duly obliged, going 3-0 up within 20 minutes,

The England head coach had asked his side to be more ruthless in front of goal in the build-up to the game, to which they responded in the right way with three goals in the first 20 minutes.

They went in 5-0 up, and added four more after the break for the biggest win in the 37 years the Under 21s have been competing.

Southgate said: “I’m delighted with the performance from the first minute to the last.

“We moved the ball quickly and with intelligence and quality.

“We used the areas where we knew the space would be and we were unselfish in our attacking play to create chances for others and were ruthless in our finishing.

“Even from half-time onwards, we could have got sloppy and taken our foot off the gas but we kept going and going and driving for a goal until the last minute.”

There are four remaining qualifying ties in the new year, two meetings with Wales, and trips to Lithuania and Moldova, and Southgate added: “I’m particularly pleased with the attitude and approach that all of the players have shown since we got together, as we’ve put some good principles in place.

“We’ve formed some good habits and want to keep improving every time we come together because there are much tougher challenges ahead. But it’s good to see them play with a smile and with freedom and enjoy wearing an England shirt.”

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