Whittingham double delights England

The 21-year-old thundered home a sumptuous volley midway through the first half making it 2-0 after Jonathan Stead had broken the deadlock on five minutes. Richard Dawson made it 3-0 on 68 minutes before Whittingham added his second and England’s fourth with a minute remaining - but manager Peter Taylor was not happy with the performance.

"The result was a little flattering for us," he said. "I thought we gave the ball away too much and in important areas. If you do that at international level you get punished. It's nice to score four; the top players do finish and need less chances. We were pleased Jon Stead scored because he's a really hard-working forward who has had a lack of confidence in front of goal."

England lined up with three Villa players in north Wales, with Whittingham, Liam Ridgewell and new loan signing James Milner all included. But it was a former Villan who made the most immediate impact, when Carlton Cole set up Jonathan Stead for the first early on.

The Chelsea striker then crossed for Whittingham to blast a second before Wales were denied when the officials failed to see that Owain Tudur-Jones' long-range effort had crossed the line. Michael Dawson's header and another from Whittingham late on sealed the victory for England who will now move on to the Bruchwegstadion in Mainz on Tuesday vying for first place in Group 6.