Palmer came off the bench for the final half-hour and lined up on the left of the three behind striker Harry Kane. England immediately improved with Palmer looking right at home, producing several clever touches and passes during his time on the pitch.

He cutely set up one good shooting opportunity for Trent Alexander-Arnold, and then brilliantly beat his full-back in stoppage time before seeing his centre blocked behind for a corner. It was a rare moment of individual quality on a perfunctory night for the already-qualified Three Lions.

Conor Gallagher started at Wembley alongside Jordan Henderson in central midfield. During a first half short of incident, England took the lead through an own goal but struggled to create much against the European minnows, who themselves threatened with a couple of decent long-range efforts.

Gallagher was one of two players withdrawn at half-time with Palmer’s introduction for Marcus Rashford following 15 minutes later. Kane doubled England’s lead at the end of a slick move and Declan Rice had a third harshly disallowed for offside against Kane.

England next play away to North Macedonia on Monday night.

Elsewhere tonight, there was a surprise result in Under-21 European Championship qualifying as France were beaten 2-0 in Austria. Lesley Ugochukwu played the full 90 minutes as a goal in either half did the damage, ending France’s flawless start to qualifying. Despite the defeat, they remain top of Group H.

Diego Moreira, on loan at Lyon, played 83 minutes as Portugal Under-20s defeated Norway 2-1 in an U20 Euro Elite qualifier. All the goals were scored prior to Moreira’s withdrawal.