Agony for Wright-Phillips as Dutch hold England

England's Wayne Rooney(R) is challenged by Giovanni van Bronckhorst of Holland during their friendly match in Birmingham. The two teams tied 0-0

Shaun Wright-Phillips's first international start turned into a nightmare as England were held to a goalless draw by an inexperienced Holland side at Villa Park.

A match that had been partly billed as an opportunity for Wright-Phillips to present his credentials as a potential successor to David Beckham on the right of England's midfield could scarcely have gone any worse for the Manchester City winger.

Deployed as part of a three-pronged attack, Wright-Phillips was curiously devoid of the sparkle that has characterised his club displays this season.

And his memories of his first start for his country will be blighted forever by his failure to convert either of the two straightforward first half chances that fell to him.

On the plus side, Eriksson will have been cheered by one of Beckham's more impressive recent performances in an England shirt. On this form, the Real Madrid midfielder is unlikely to be usurped by Wright-Phillips, or anyone else, anytime soon.

With the exception of the two chances spurned by Wright-Phillips, England created few real chances and Holland, who hit the woodwork early in the match, might easily have claimed victory if Roy Makaay had taken their best chance shortly after half-time.

England's Shaun Wright-Phillips runs the ball toward the Dutch goals in his international debut during their friendly match in Birmingham

England's decision to start with a three-man midfield ensured Holland were able to slip quickly into a comfortable passing rhythm and the Dutch were unlucky not to capitalise on their early dominance when Feyenoord forward Dirk Kuyt's 20-yard drive came back off the inside of the post in the tenth minute.

England responded with a swift counterattack down the right that concluded with Wayne Rooney's intelligent cutback finding Steven Gerrard, who lifted his shot over the bar from just inside the Dutch area.

As Holland's early zip subsided, England gradually began to take control.

But the nerves suggested by Wright-Phillips's tentative first few touches were confirmed by the hash he made of England's best two chances of the match.

Both came in the first 20 minutes and both had their roots in clever Beckham free-kicks.

From the first, the England captain combined with Ashley Cole to get in behind the Dutch defence. A deft flick found Wright-Phillips unmarked but a snatched shot was directed wide of the upright.

Agonisingly for the Manchester City winger, worse was to follow after Beckham caught the Dutch defence napping again by clipping a free-kick on the right of the area into the path of Gary Neville, overlapping just like the good old days at Manchester United.

England's David Beckham(R) fights for an aerial ball with Rafael van der Vaart of Holland during their friendly match in Birmingham. The game ended in a 0-0 draw

The full-back's drilled low cross was perfectly delivered for Wright-Phillips but once again he proved unable to get a clean contact on the ball with the goal gaping invitingly.

There was at least a flash of the real Wright-Phillips shortly afterwards, when he wriggled clear of right-back Jan Kromkamp on the left of the area and fired into the side netting.

Holland began to show some signs of life at the start of the second half. A shot-cum-cross from Kromkamp flashed dangerously across Paul Robinson's goalmouth and Makaay, with his vast experience, should really have put them ahead ten minutes after the restart.

Having peeled away from Gary Neville beyond the back post, the Bayern Munich striker had enough time to bring down Rome Castelen's cross but the right foot shot that followed was struck into the side netting.

Rooney lifted the crowd with a goalwards charge that won England a free-kick 35 yards out - allowing Beckham to finally force Edwin van der Sar into his first - and last - significant save of the evening.

Eriksson brought on Stewart Downing and Andy Johnson for their first caps just after the hour mark while Holland were given added bite by the introduction of PSV Eindhoven's Mark van Bommel, who was unfortunate to have a goal-bound drive deflected over the bar by Ashley Cole's block.