Spurs international watch: Tottenham midfielder in U21 action

Archie Gray played the full 90 minutes for England U21s away to Northern Ireland, as they prepare for life without Lee Carsley, who is the current interim manager of the England senior team.

New U21 manager Ben Futcher opted to start Gray at RWB, a role not too unfamiliar to the Spurs man, who played a lot of games for Leeds United last season as a right-back.

The 18-year-old put in a positive performance, with 101 touches, 70 accurate passes, four accurate long balls, 2/2 successful dribbles, 3/3 ground duels, 1/1 aerial duels, one clearance, and one tackle. Unfortunately for Gray, it was not enough, as England were held to a stalemate by their hosts, despite 79% possession, 20 shots to four, and two big chances to zero. They just could not make their dominance count.

England U21s held to stalemate against Northern Ireland

It could be a seriously costly result, too, as England already found themselves two points below Ukraine in their qualifying group for the U21 Euros that take place next summer, despite a superior goal difference. Ukraine also now have a game in hand to make it a five-point gap, when they showdown with Northern Ireland themselves. Gray and his England counterparts will be hoping Northern Ireland can produce a similarly resilient display and even go better to grab all three points.

England and Ukraine will actually showdown next month, in what did feel like a huge game, and will still be pretty big, but now with a margin for error on Ukraine's part should they win away to Northern Ireland on Tuesday night.

A collective disappointment, but encouraging to see Gray put in another positive display, and he will no doubt be hoping that he can make it into the senior setup at some point this season, especially with the number of young players that made it into the most recent squad.