Ishe Samuels-Smith, Josh Acheampong, Tyrique George and Reiss Denny all started for Will Antwi’s side in what is the first of three international fixtures this week.

The Three Lions fought from two goals down to peg back their Italian counterparts, with fellow Chelsea representation coming from the bench as Harrison Murray-Campbell and Kiano Dyer entered the fray as second-half substitutes.

The six Blues will hope for further international action when England take on Croatia [Saturday] and Germany [Tuesday] during this window.

Earlier in the day, Chelsea's Shumaira Mheuka netted in a penalty shoot-out as England Under-18s drew with Portugal.

The Young Lions were held to a 2-2 draw as part of the Lafarge International Tournament in France, the first of three testing fixtures.

Liam Bramley’s side went two goals ahead courtesy of strikes from Jesse Derry and Trey Nyoni before Portugal hit back to send the game to penalties.

That finished 4-4, with Mheuka slotting home the fourth penalty, before Sunderland’s Chris Rigg saw his effort saved. Portugal also saw a spot-kick stopped to ensure there was no separating the sides as no sudden death would be played.

Elsewhere, Harrison McMahon was part of the Scotland Under-19s side that defeated Azerbaijan 2-0 in Murcia, Spain.

The Chelsea youngster was among the substitutes at the Pinatar Arena, with goals from Rory Wilson and Rudi Allan-Molotnikov securing the friendly win.