SAINTS' hugely-promising young guns return to England international duty tonight.

The sharp shooting of Dexter Blackstock and Theo Walcott has grabbed the headlines in recent days, but the defensive partnership of Martin Cranie and Matthew Mills has been every bit as impressive.

Head of recruitment Malcolm Elias admitted the club has been given a huge boost by all their exploits in recent days.

Cranie is captaining the under-19s team and his partnership in central defence with Mills looks sets to form the backbone of England's challenge for this summer's European Championships in Northern Ireland.

And with Blackstock up-front, players from Saints' academy currently make up more than a quarter of that England team.

Consecutive 1-0 victories against Denmark and Sweden have left England in pole-position in their group and they face Moldova tonight in their final qualifying game.

Elias said the partnership of Cranie and Mills had underpinned England's two victories.

"Matthew Mills and Martin Cranie are looking a fantastic pair - they have kept some good players out of the team," said Elias.

"The England management team are very pleased with both of them and the way they have performed. They complement each other extremely well - they have an uncanny understanding.

"They have played against two very decent teams and not looked concerned at any stage.

"They have provided a very solid foundation. They were a very good pair for the youth team last year and have taken it to another level.

"Martin Cranie is captain, so they obviously feel that he has leadership qualities.

"And Matthew Mills seems to have really benefited from loan spells with Coventry and Bournemouth."

Blackstock scored the last-minute winner against Sweden on Monday and Elias said he had benefited from his time at Plymouth.

"Dexter Blackstock made a good impact when he came on - it is not easy to play on your own up front," said Elias.

"He has a real goalscorer's knack, he gets in the right place at the right time.

"It's great to see them all playing for the under-19s and I'm not sure if it has been done at one club.

"It is rare to see and is a big boost for us and the boys."

Winger Walcott, meanwhile, looks sure to face the Republic of Ireland for the under-17s today.

He was rested as England beat Northern Ireland 3-0 on Monday after his starring performance in the win against Serbia and Montenegro on Saturday.

"He scored one and made one and was the brightest player," added Elias.

Saints defender Calum Davenport became the second St Mary's man to skipper an England side this week when he captained the Under-21s for the first time.

Just a day after Martin Cranie had led the Under-19s out against Sweden at Bury, so Davenport, left, did likewise for Peter Taylor's youngsters against Azerbaijan at Middlesbrough.

Davenport, on loan to Saints from Tottenham, was made skipper in the absence of Pompey midfielder Gary O'Neil, who had 26 stitches in a facial injury sustained against Germany last Friday.

O'Neil's midfield place was taken by Liverpool's John Welsh, who opened the scoring on his Under-21 debut in a comfortable 2-0 win.