CHARLIE CRESSWELL recorded his first international assist as England Under-21s beat Albania 3-0 to progress to next year's European Championships.

From the second phase of a corner midway through the second half, Cresswell headed substitute Morgan Gibbs-White's cross across goal, allowing Folarian Balogun to nod into the empty net.

That was the Arsenal striker's second goal of the evening at Chesterfield's Technique Stadium having given England the lead on the stroke of half time when tapping the ball in from club team-mate Emile Smith-Rowe's cut-back after clever pressing on the Albania defence.

Aston Villa forward Cameron Archer wrapped up the scoring with a dozen minutes left, finishing neatly at the near post from Anthony Gordon's dribble down the left and drag back into the box.

For Cresswell, who was raised in York and is the son of former York City striker Richard Cresswell, the 90-minute outing at centre-back was a fourth international youth appearance.

The 19-year-old Leeds United defender will be seeking to retain his England spot at the 2023 Euros, which will be hosted in Romania and Georgia.

England close out their Group 'G' campaign with a trip to Kosovo tomorrow (7pm) and a home match with Slovenia on Monday (7.45pm) at Huddersfield's John Smith's Stadium.

Elsewhere, former York City loanee Nick Pope was an unused substitute in England's 1-1 draw at Munich's Allianz Arena against Germany in the Nations League.