Peter Taylor believes Theo Walcott showed enough on his under-21 debut to give England fans cause for optimism.

Walcott has not played in pre-season after picking up a virus since returning from the World Cup but he took just three minutes to open the scoring against Moldova at Portman Road on his under-21 bow. The 17-year-old's substitution after 66 minutes sparked a glut of goals in the final 15 minutes of the European Championship qualifier, with the visitors picking up a valuable point with the 2-2 draw.

Despite England's qualification for next year's finals now in the balance, Walcott's performance impressed Taylor, who said: "I'm sure he enjoyed himself, to score very early is a bonus. He's played no matches, so the way he played for an hour is tremendous."