JAY McEveley was handed the perfect birthday present on Tuesday night.

His call-up to the England Under 21s squad was a surprise in itself, but he was completely blown away when David Platt said he was going to make his debut in the friendly against Italy Under 21s in Carrara.

"I just expected to be training with the squad and then watching the game from the stands," said McEveley, who celebrated his 18th birthday in style on Tuesday.

"But the manager (David Platt) said before the game that everyone was going to play a part because it was a friendly.

"I didn't get to play for very long, but I was just pleased to get on the pitch because the whole thing was just so unexpected."

McEveley didn't find out he had been called up until after Rovers' 1-0 home win over Southampton on Saturday. Then it was off to Manchester's Hilton Hotel to meet up with the rest of the squad the following day before flying to Italy.

"Everything happened so quickly and out of the blue," McEveley confessed.

"I'd been on standby but didn't think I'd get a call-up. It was a fantastic experience playing alongside Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe.

"Lee Grant, the Derby goalkeeper, and Ipswich's Darren Bent and Darren Ambrose were making their debuts as well as me, so that helped me settle in. But all the lads were great with me and made me feel welcome.

"If everything goes well, they've said I could play in the next three under 21 tournaments, but just to be around the squad and see what the set-up's like is great.

"Training was pretty much the same as what we do at Blackburn and we did a lot of work on shape ahead of the game.

"It was disappointing to lose in the end but Italy are a good side and were hard to break down."

Despite only playing around 20 minutes in the second half, David Platt, who has watched McEveley on a couple of occasions since December, was impressed with what he saw.

"He was really encouraging," McEveley explained. "He said I was there because I deserved to be and that I should enjoy it. He told me not to be nervous because I was good enough to be there and just told me to play like I do for my club and I'd be all right.

"Afterwards he said 'well done', so I've just got to keep doing well at club level and see what happens from there."

The eyes of the nation were on 17-year-old Wayne Rooney this week when he became the youngest England international. And while McEveley is slightly older after just turning 18, he is happy to take one step at a time.

"I'm not looking as far ahead as the England first team," he said.

"If I can get a regular first team place at Blackburn and do well for them then that will be great.

"England will come if I'm good enough."