England U21s and Southampton defender explains the feeling after his late winner

With three Southampton players in the England Under-21s team to play Italy at St. Mary’s, it was always likely that one of them would make an impact.

That man turned out to be central defender Jack Stephens, whose last-gasp goal gave the Young Lions a 3-2 win over Italy.

And that may have surprised a few observers, given that fellow Saints Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse are more usually the Young Lions’ threats going forward.

But Stephens showed a striker’s instinct to turn home from close range in the 93rd minute, after former Southampton man Calum Chambers’ header from a Ward-Prowse corner had been saved by Italian keeper Pierluigi Gollini.

“It was an unbelievable experience for me to play for England at my home ground,” said Stephens, who has been with Southampton for five years after joining from Plymouth Argyle.

“And obviously to score was the icing on the cake, it was an unbelievable feeling.

"You've just got to keep going and keep going and I think a goal was coming to be honest.

"We had a few half chances and thankfully it fell to me, so I was there to stick it in.

"I was surprised Calum didn't score, he got a good connection on it and luckily I was just there.”

Jack Stephens is found at the bottom of the pile after his late winner

The match was the first of England’s preparation games for next summer’s European Championship, against a team who will also be competing in the finals in Poland.

And with France next up in another testing fixture on Monday evening, Stephens believes playing the likes of these teams is perfect preparation for the Young Lions.

"We knew what they were about and that they were going to be physical and try and get under our skin,” he added.

"When we were 2-1 down, we were really up against it, but we showed good spirit to come back and win and even though people say it's only a friendly, it's still good to win these games.”