Izzy Brown praised his Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek after the pair starred in England U19s impressive 3-0 victory against Italy.
A first-half brace from Brown gave England the advantage at the break, and Loftus-Cheek added a third just after the hour mark as the Young Lions ended 2014 with four consecutive wins.
And the 17-year-old said he was delighted to link up so well with his club team-mate on the international stage.
England 3-0 Italy
U19 International
Friday 14 November
New York Stadium, Rotherham
“I love playing with Ruben, he’s a great player and one of the best midfielders for his age in the country,” said Brown.
“He’s gives 100 per cent and he’s an outstanding player.
He continued: “We work really well together and we have a great understanding because we play together every week in the Under-21s at Chelsea – so we have a good partnership and to carry it on in an England shirt is very pleasing.”
Brown’s second strike was the goal of the night, as he picked up a short corner and fired an unstoppable shot past the Italian goalkeeper – and he revealed it was something discussed before the game.
The England U19 pair after Izzy Brown's first goal against Italy
He said: “In the dressing room before the game Sean [O’Driscoll] said to me that the first time we have a corner on the left-hand side I should go short, get it and shoot.
“So I thought ‘OK I’ll do that’. When I saw the space open up in front of me I took the shot and I was delighted to see it fly in."
The game was played out in front of a sell-out South Yorkshire crowd, and Brown said that made the evening even more enjoyable.
“It was a great experience to play in front of 12,000 fans and it will only get better for us as we play more and more together,” he added.
“It was a fantastic game. It’s always great to play for your country and it’s an honour for me to score two goals for the U19s.
“We’ve worked hard all week during training so I was very pleased with the performance in the end.”
Brown was part of the England U17 squad who triumphed in the European Championships in May.
“It’s always great to play for your country and it’s an honour for me to score two goals for the U19s”
Izzy Brown
And he insists he and his team-mate from that success Patrick Roberts – who was also playing for the U19s alongside him on Friday – know they must not get carried away despite the positive results.
“Looking forward it’s very exciting,” he added.
“As a group we’ve got so much confidence, we keep getting good results and good remarks from everyone around us.
“But we can’t let that get to our heads, we need to focus every time we meet up with the squad.
"We must continue to give 100 per cent day in day out and just hopefully when the U19 European Championships come around we can go one better and win it.”
Watch the highlights from the New York Stadium
