Fabio Capello was not at St Mary’s Stadium last night but his assistant coach was, and Franco Baldini will be relaying to the England manager this morning how the under-21s are almost certainly through to the play-offs for the European Championship finals in Sweden in 2009 thanks to a sparkling performance from James Milner and a star turn by Theo Walcott.

Walcott was making his first appearance at Southampton since he moved to Arsenal two years ago and the winger, 18, could not resist having a dig at the critics who have questioned the impact that he has made at the Emirates Stadium. “I don’t listen to what people say, I don’t listen to the critics,” he said. “I just get on with my football and try to perform in every game.”

Ireland’s evening got off to an embarrassing start, when the stadium announcer introduced their national anthem as “the anthem of the Republic of Northern Ireland”, and things went from bad to worse after the interval, when England stepped up a gear and took the lead after a shot by Milner was deflected past Darren Randolph, the Ireland goalkeeper, by Stephen O’Halloran, the left back. Milner struck again in the 67th minute, this time from 25 yards via a post, before Walcott grabbed the headlines with a close-range goal.

“I am sure Fabio was watching on television because he is a football man,” Stuart Pearce, the England Under-21 head coach, said. “Franco Baldini was introduced to the players before the kick-off and they were very pleased to see him. There were a few performances that are worth recommending to Fabio.”

England Under-21 (4-5-1): J Hart - C Gardner, S Taylor, D Wheater, J Mattock – A Lennon, F Muamba, T Huddlestone (sub: C Jerome, 78min), M Noble (sub: A Surman, 85), J Milner – T Walcott (sub: A Johnson, 85). Substitutes not used: J Lewis, M Mancienne, L Moore, J O’Hara. Booked: Wheater, Johnson.

Ireland Under-21 (4-5-1): D Randolph – E Nolan, J O’Cearuill, D O’Dea, S O’Halloran – A Stokes (sub: J O’Brien, 86), J-J O’Toole, S Quinn (sub: I Morris, 83), O Garvan, B Clarke (sub: A Rooney, 65) – A Keogh. Substitutes not used: S Supple, R Keogh, D Dennehy, S McFaul. Booked: Garvan.

Referee: J Hyytia (Finland).

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