Keith Downing's first game in charge saw England U20s finish strong but have to settle for a 0-0 draw against Holland at New Meadow.
Next up for the youngsters is a trip to Basel on Monday to take on Switzerland and they were plenty of positives to take from this stalemate at Shrewsbury.
Lining up in a 4-2-3-1, the early threat was carried by Ryan Giles, playing on familiar territory at New Meadow if in a new position of left wing.
But as the half wore on the Dutch began to grow into the game and England keeper Josef Bursik was forced into a good save to deny Lars Kramer at the midpoint of the first half.
Jonathan Leko led the line impressively for England while Conor Gallagher battled hard in the centre of the pitch, Che Nunnely catching the eye for the visitors.
The two sides went in level at the interval but it was England who started the sharper second time around, Luke Bolton getting to the byline with ease down the right but the chances came to nothing.
Downing made a double change just after the hour mark, with Danny Loader and Jack Clarke both introduced.
And it was the hosts who finished stronger but failed to carve out a chance of any real note in front of the 2,578-strong crowd.
Plenty of food for thought for Downing as his side head to Switzerland and prepare for their second game on Monday.
England: 1 Josef Bursik (Accrington Stanley - on loan from Stoke City), 2 Tariq Lamptey (Chelsea), 3 Brandon Williams (Manchester United), 4 Conor Gallagher (Chelsea, on loan at Charlton), 5 Joel Latibeaudiere (Manchester City), 6 Japhet Tanganga (Tottenham Hotspur), 7 Luke Bolton (Luton Town - on loan from Manchester City), 8 Andre Dozzell (Ipswich Town), 9 Jonathan Leko (West Bromwich Albion), 10 Angel Gomes (Manchester United), 11 Ryan Giles (Shrewsbury Town - on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Substitutes: Danny Loader (Reading) on for Giles 66, Jack Clarke (Leeds United - on loan from Tottenham Hotspur) on for Leko 66
Substitutes not used: Thomas McGill (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marcus Tavernier (Middlesbrough), Jamie Shackleton (Leeds United), Callum Slattery (Southampton), Luke Thomas (Barnsley), Lewis Gibson (Everton), Nathan Ferguson (West Bromwich Albion), Josh Griffiths (West Bromwich Albion)
Head Coach: Keith Downing
