Doncaster Rovers' Chelsea loanee toasts England under-21s debut in win over Portugal
Doncaster Rovers loanee Ted Sharman-Lowe made his England under-21s bow on Monday night.
The stopper, on a season-long loan at Rovers from Premier League giants Chelsea, played the entire second half as Lee Carsley's side recorded a 4-2 friendly victory over Portugal at West Bromwich's Hawthorns ground.
Goals from Hayden Hackney and Ethan Nwaneri gave the Young Lions a two-goal lead before Wolves' Fabio Silva reduced the arrears to ensure it was 2-1 at half-time. Carsley then gave Sharman-Lowe the gloves in place of Sheffield Wednesday loanee James Beadle at the interval before a flurry of further changes affected the rhythm of the match.
Omari Hutchinson put the game beyond doubt with a third and although Sharman-Lowe's hopes of a clean sheet were dashed through another Wolves player - Carlos Forbs - England had the final say when Jaden Philogene netted in stoppage time.
Despite conceding, the general consensus was that Sharman-Lowe fared well on his first experience at this level. He had precious little to do in terms of shot-stopping but Rovers will hope to reap the benefits of the 21-year-old being part of a star-studded squad for the League Two promotion run-in.
Sharman-Lowe, who has nine clean sheets in the league so far, was recently asked about a possible return to Rovers in 2025-26.
"Yeah, I would say so," he said when asked of the prospect.
"But we've not had any sort of chats like that. From my point of view, everyone at Chelsea and even people here, there's been no kind of conversations (like that)."
Sharman-Lowe will now return to Cantley Park and rejoin his Rovers colleagues as they prepare for Saturday's home game with bottom side Carlisle. Patrick Kelly (Northern Ireland under-21s) and Charlie Crew (Wales under-19s) will both be hoping for game time for their respective countries on Tuesday evening before they return to South Yorkshire.