JAMES Ward-Prowse is on the verge of leading England Under-21s to their first Toulon Tournament final in 22 years.

The Young Lions captain, who is joined in the squad by fellow Saints men Matt Targett and Jack Stephens, has helped Gareth Southgate’s side to three straight victories at the annual tournament in the group stages.

They defeated Portugal 1-0 in their first game before a 7-1 thrashing of Guinea and a 4-0 drubbing of Paraguay.

Ward-Prowse and co now only need a draw from their final game today against Japan Under-23s to confirm progress to their first final since 1994.

Even if Southgate’s side were to lose, their rivals would need a huge goal swing to overhaul them. Awaiting them in the final on Sunday will be France.

Back in 1994, two former Saints played a big role in taking the Toulon crown.

Chris Makin, who played for Oldham Athletic at the time, finished his professional career at St Mary’s in 2008 and was part of that triumphant England squad in ‘94.

Having worked under then Saints boss George Burley at Ipswich, a 33-year-old Makin switched from Reading to Saints and played 32 times in the Championship under the Scottish manager.

Jamie Redknapp is another familiar name to have played in that last Toulon victory.

The son of Harry, Jamie joined Saints in 2004/05 to try and help the club and his dad out of a relegation scrap at St Mary’s.

It didn’t turn out well as the midfielder went down with the club that same year and subsequently retired on medical grounds.

Back in the day, though, when Redknapp was a spritely 20-year-old and Makin was 21, they both started the final against Portugal Under-21s, which saw Trevor Sinclair and Bruce Dyer score in a 2-0 win.

The current class are now aiming to follow in their footsteps with Ward-Prowse - who netted a penalty as England recovered from conceding in the first minute to thrash Guinea 7-1 - hoping to better their fourth-place finish last time out.

“We ended up finishing fourth, but it was a great experience and going back again we can use those experiences to really help us improve and hopefully get a bit of silverware,” he said.

Japan shouldn’t post too much of a threat to England.

They have been defeated by both Portugal and Paraguay in the group so far and only scraped past Guinea 2-1.

Ward-Prowse was voted one of the best three players in the 2015 Toulon Tournament, and his goal against Brazil was voted the Goal of the Tournament 12 months ago.