England's historical night at Molineux will not live long in the memory

This was just the fifth time in history the Three Lions have played at the home of Wolves, but with it being a behind-closed-doors fixture, it always promised to make for a strange atmosphere.

Gareth Southgate's charges failed to produce a performance to get enthralled about either as the so-far winless Nations League campaign continued with a goalless draw against Italy.

For the young schoolchildren at the game, however, it was a night they thoroughly enjoyed.

Quite whether the Uefa loophole that allows those up to the age of 14 to attend behind-closed-doors games with an adult for every 10 should exist is a matter that could be debated for days on end.

Perhaps you might argue rewarding children for the bad behaviour of their elders is not the most logical thing in the world.

Regardless of that, they could still be heard chanting 'England' as they left the ground and clearly took something from it.

That was the main takeaway given Southgate's lot flattered to deceive in a game largely played at an end-of-season pace.

While the stadium was mostly empty, the kids filled up a fair chunk of the Steve Bull lower and made themselves heard all evening.

Hundreds of people – boasting both England and Italy flags – gathered near the Billy Wright statue a couple of hours before the game, too, to see the players emerge from the coaches.

Still, the clash was very much reminiscent of those played during the height of the pandemic.

The punishment for the trouble during last year's Euro final at Wembley, undoubtedly, took a fair amount of shine off the Three Lions' first outing at Molineux in 66 years. The on-pitch action did little to help.

At least Tuesday night against Hungary will be a sold-out affair and, fingers crossed, a better game of football.

As the two sides took to the pitch for the national anthems, the youngsters sang God Save the Queen as loud as they could before booing each of the Italy starters' names as they were announced over the PA system.

Roberto Mancini's lot were also booed whenever they had a prolonged spell of possession.

One of the very few benefits of behind-closed-doors games is the ability to hear more of what is being said on the pitch.

But with Wolves skipper Conor Coady – often the loudest player during the Covid era – on the bench, England lacked a distinctive voice.

Italy had remarkably trained at the Dell Stadium in Dudley hours before kick-off and should have gone ahead inside a matter of minutes as Davide Frattesi dragged his effort wide.

The Three Lions hit the bar through Mason Mount, but the tempo reflected the time of the year, with this Nations League encounter coming after a long domestic campaign and two internationals days prior.

Italy had a bit more spring in their step and saw Sandro Tonali sharply denied by Aaron Ramsdale, who was given the nod in goal as Southgate took the opportunity to rotate his squad.

Former Villa striker Tammy Abraham – now thriving with Roma in Italy's Serie A – was starved of any service. Fellow centre forward Gianluca Scamacca blazed over as the visitors wasted another decent chance before the end of the half.

There had not been much to shout about from an England perspective, but the kids carried on regardless. Whenever the Three Lions broke into the final third, they rose from their old gold chairs and screamed in excitement.

They should have had a goal to relish shortly into the second period, but Raheem Sterling fluffed his lines from point-blank range.

As Italy continued to create chances, Lorenzo Pellegrini took a corner to a chorus of boos from the young crowd. They were then thrilled to see Harry Kane replace Abraham as the Three Lions hoped for a moment of quality.

Jack Grealish had seen a lot of the ball but was unable to do anything of great significance with it while Sterling drifted in and out of proceedings. Abraham was barely involved before going off.

Fatigue was apparent among the players – Italy began to sit off and offer very little in attack as England passed it around but struggled to get between the lines.

A goal, ultimately, was not forthcoming.

Coady, who had sat on a row of seats with the England backroom team rather than the dugout, was an unused substitute and will hope for a special cap on Tuesday. You would imagine he will at least get a run-out off the bench.

That match against Hungary will, hopefully, be the real showpiece at Molineux.

This was an underwhelming outing on the whole but, again, those few thousand youngsters had a whale of a time and shouted their heads off.

Let's hope Tuesday's crowd have something to properly savour.