There may not be a Southampton player representing England against Northern Ireland - but FIVE Saints teenagers will be wearing the Three Lions today.

And Dexter Blackstock, Matthew Mills and captain Martin Cranie will all be starting for England Under-19s for the first time in a UEFA Under-19 European Championship qualifier against Denmark at Crewe.

It will be the first time since 1955 that Saints have had three players in an England starting XI.

Head of youth Steve Wigley will be at Stoke City's Britannia Ground tomorrow to watch winger Theo Walcott, 16, play for the England Under-17s as they begin their UEFA European championship qualifying campaign against Serbia & Montenegro.

And midfielder Jake Thomson will be in action for England Under-16s in their third and final match of the prestigious Montaigu tournament, against Cameroon in France, where Rod Ruddick, the head of the Saints' satellite academy in Bath, will be scouting.

But it is in the north-west where there will be the biggest Saints presence, and head of recruitment Malcolm Elias is in Crewe today to watch Blackstock and centre backs Mills and Cranie start in the first of three UEFA European Championship qualifiers in five days for England's Under-19s.

It is the first time in 50 years that an England youth team has included so many Saints players, when Dell legend John Sydenham played in the same side as Colin Holmes, Peter Vine and Terry Simpson.

Elias said: "You have to go back a long way for the last time three Southampton players represented their country in a competitive game.

"Martin Cranie and Matthew Mills were almost impregnable for our under-18s last season and the winning culture at our academy cannot have done either of them - or Dexter, Theo and Jake - any harm in terms of England selection."

Mills has been outstanding at AFC Bournemouth, where his loan has been extended to a second month.

And a good performance from him alongside Cranie today would help him keep out Middlesbrough prodigy David Wheater for the games against Sweden and Moldova next week, when former Saints and England centre back Mark Wright will be producing a scouting report on the pair to the Southampton academy.

In attack, Blackstock, who has scored two goals in nine loan appearances for Plymouth, will be hoping to beat Kasper Schmeicel, the son of Peter, against Denmark as Martin Hunter's side aim to get their qualification campaign off to the best possible start.

The England Under-19s continue their bid to reach this summer's finals in Northern Ireland against Sweden at Bury's Gigg Lane ground on Monday, and against Moldova at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road on Wednesday.

Hunter said: "The three Southampton lads are members of a powerful squad, and Martin Cranie has done a very good job since I made him captain.

"I've tried a few combinations at centre back, where I have a number of good players, but we'll be starting with Martin and Matthew Mills against Denmark because they play so well together.

"As for Dexter, he gives the opposition problems whenever he has played at this level."

Meanwhile, John Peacock's England Under-17s play Northern Ireland at Molineux on Monday, and complete their qualifying campaign against the Republic of Ireland at Walsall's Bescot Stadium on Wednesday, when they are expected to qualify for the finals in Italy.

The under-16s' interest in the Montaigu tournament was set to end in Chantonnay today following a defeat against Japan and a draw against Portugal in the opening two games.

But midfielder Thomson has continued to build his burgeoning reputation.

Elias added: "We see Jake as an attacking midfielder. He gets from box to box with fantastic energy.

"He's been used by England as a holding player, but Kenny Swain, the England Under-16s manager, is very pleased with him and sees a lot of leadership potential there, as you would expect in someone who is head boy at his school."

Cranie, Mills, Blackstock, Walcott - who has scored three goals for England Under-17s this season as a 15-year-old - and Thomson are not the academy's only players involved at England level.

Nathan Dyer and Sean Rudd impressed England Under-18s boss Dick Bate during a three-day training camp last week.

But under-18s defender Kyle Critchell, who has dual nationality, was last night set to turn down England and commit his future to Wales, after being named as a substitute for his country's UEFA under-21 European Championship qualifier against Austria at Merthyr Tydfil.