Bentley drives England on

England 'B' 3 Albania 1

'DB' was back in the England number seven shirt last night but it was David Bentley who stood out at Turf Moor, writes Tim Nash.

All the talk beforehand was of an England wide right player in the number seven shirt with the initials 'DB' and whether he would be in the senior squad to face Brazil and Estonia.

Well, David Beckham's claims may have been scuppered if the performance of David Bentley had anything to do with it.

The Blackburn midfielder, greeted by a mixture of cheers and boos as a Rovers man appearing at Burnley, produced a majestic display to grace a sell-out Turf Moor crowd.

Providing a string of quality crosses from the right the 'other David' would have been proud of, the 22-year-old helped set up the first and third goals in a similar commanding display to the one he produced in new Wembley's first competitive game for England under-21s against Italy under-21s.

Bentley upstaged the man they all came to see - and the one the predominantly young crowd all yearned to score - Michael Owen.

But Owen wouldn't have minded as he shook off the rustiness that saw him rise from a leaden-footed first half to play much more like his impish old self after the break on his international return.

While Bentley and Owen have to be in Steve McClaren's line-up for the full squad named today for Friday's friendly against the Samba kings and the important Euro 2008 qualifier, Villa's Gareth Barry is surely another must on the list.

The Villa skipper played in his favourite role of central midfield, where he ended the season in style for Martin O'Neill's men.

In a lively 64-minute outing, the 26-year-old made light of playing there for the first time for his country by skilfully setting up Alan Smith's 35th minute drilled opener with an intelligent flick which invited the first time daisycutter tucked inside the near post from 20 yards.

Displaying the same confidence and bravery in white as he does in claret and blue, Barry saw as much of the ball as anyone in the first half.

But before they got into their stride, England were nearly embarrassed by the heroics of blonde bomber Besart Berisha.

The versatile Hamburg forward left the home defence standing with a fierce run cutting inside from the right before rattling the bar with a curling 25-yarder in the first real chance in the 20th minute.

Then the jack-in-the-box unleashed two more efforts from range which flew narrowly over.

The Albanians also went close when Alban Bushi was put through by Devi Mukaj only to fire straight at keeper Scott Carson.

All England had to show for their subdued opening was a curling free kick from Stewart Downing, who replaced ankle victim Aaron Lennon after he went off with just nine minutes on the clock. Much of their failure to impose themselves early on was down to Albania's two strapping centre-halves, Nevil Dede and Altin Haxhi, who never allowed Smith and Owen to dwell on the ball for a second.

Thankfully for England, Smith's opener gave them some breathing space and a second goal for the hosts within three minutes from Downing gave the B side a somewhat flattering two-goal cushion.

The Middlesbrough winger volleyed home after keeper Arjan Beqaj could only flap at Bentley's superb cross from the right under aerial pressure from Owen.

Albania finally got their reward a minute from the break when Berisha skipped around Ledley King before firing home a rising shot.

At that time, a goal for Owen on his international return was about as likely as the crowd chanting Bentley's name as one.

But the Newcastle striker could and should have marked his return to the international stage with his first England goal since the 6-0 friendly win over Jamaica last June when he was presented with an open goal.

Barry retrieved possession on the byline in front of the keeper and quickly fed Downing, whose cross set up Owen. But with the goal at his mercy, England's fourth highest scorer nodded wide.

With England now running through the gears, Downing duly restored their two-goal lead with a cheeky chip in the 59th minute after great awareness from Owen, who received Bentley's pass from the right in space through the middle before finding the overlapping Boro man to his left.

Owen had just one other chance to score, when he snatched at a half chance after his marker slipped trying to reach a Downing cross, but it wasn't to be his night.

It was however Bentley's, and McClaren could do a lot worse than pick him, Barry and Owen against Brazil and Estonia.

England 'B' (4-4-2): Carson; P Neville (Jagielka HT), King, Dawson, Shorey (Lescott 74); Bentley (Defoe 72), Jenas, Barry (Taylor 64), Lennon (Downing 9); Smith (Dyer 64), Owen. Subs not used: Green, Nugent.

Albania (4-3-3): Beqaj (Hidi 79); Vangjeli, Dede, Haxhi, Rustemaj; Mukaj, Duro (Vrapi 66), Bulku; Skela (Hyka 75), Nushi, Berisha. Subs not used: Ahmataj, Sinani, Xhafa, Murati.

Referee: A De Marco (Italy).

Attendance: 21,868.