It was a dream England debut for Southampton's Taylor Harwood-Bellis, in front of his future Father in law ex Manchester United & Republic of Ireland legend Roy Keane, not only scoring but also nearly getting an assist.

Saints supporters were a little surprised that Taylor Harwood-Bellis was selected for a call up for this round of Nations League matches, however having been caretaker manager Lee Carsley's Captain in the U21 squad, it seemed that this was in recognition of that service.

So when England went 3-0 up just before the hour mark, making the game safe, it was no surprise to see the Saints central defender appear on the touchline and coming on in the 62nd minute.

He was joined on the pitch 5 minutes later by his St Mary's team mate Ryan Manning, who came on for the visitors.

By this time Ireland were a spent force and Harwood-Bellis did not look out of place in an England shirt, he was sound defensively and he also got forward well and then in the 79th minute came his dream moment.

By then England had already got a 4th when he met a cross into the box with a thumping downward header into the corner to make it 5 for the Three Lions on the night.

It could have got better though, moving forward he played a lovely through ball for Harry Kane who almost made it 6, but his low shot was well saved by the keeper.

Overall Harwood-Bellis can be well pleased by his England debut, although I suspect that when the next squad is named in March and all the big names decide to return to the fold, that he will be back with the U21 squad.

His success last night will be bitter sweet for Saints supporters, on one hand it was good to see him step up to the plate and do so well, that bodes well for the rest of the season for Saints, he will have had a big boost in his confidence in what is his first season in the top flight, he will now feel that he belongs in the Premier League and his performances will reflect that.

But on the other hand this game will have given him a bigger profile and put him on the radar of some bigger club's than Southampton and that usually doesn't end well in these days when those with money get what they want.

But at the end of the day, I am sure that Southampton fans will be happy to see one of the club's players make their England debut and do so with such an impact.

Harwood-Bellis's future Father in law Roy Keane, a legend for the Ireland team for many years grudgingly gave him respect in his role as a TV pundit for ITV.

"It's almost as good as Kane's goal. It's bittersweet for me, this,"

It was then explained to the viewers who might have been unaware that Harwood-Bellis was Keane's future son-in-law, the ex Manchester United midfielder had this to say

"It's not done and dusted yet! Listen, things can change really quickly in the Keane household!"

But after a rare moment of humour Keane had some nice words for his future family member.

"It's good for him to make his debut and he's a bit of a goal threat. He's a nice kid and his family have done a really great job."

Now it's back to St Mary's for Taylor Harwood-Bellis and hopefully he can put in another great performance against Liverpool on Sunday.

All Photos Via Reuters

IanRC added 15:58 - Nov 18 Well done Taylor.
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Block8 added 19:24 - Nov 18 It was a good confidence boost to get on the pitch and even better to get on the scoresheet. Well done Taylor and Carsley!
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