Jack Collison turned in a spirited display for Wales as they went down 1-0 to England in a UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier on Tuesday night.
The Hammers midfielder played for 85 minutes in what was a narrow Group G defeat at Wembley, courtesy of Ashley Young's first half-strike. Collison was a lively box-to-box presence throughout in a Wales midfield also boasting Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale as he continues to put his serious knee injury behind him.
The match was Collison's competitive bow for his country on his eleventh cap, and put to bed any outside speculation that he would choose to switch allegiance from Wales, for whom he qualifies through his grandfather. While Welsh hopes of the finals were long since over, England need just a point from their final match away to Montenegro on 7 October to make sure of a place at next summer's finals.
Elsewhere, John Carew played for the final 25 minutes off the bench for Norway in a vital qualifier away to Denmark. By the time the big Hammers front-man arrived, the damage had been done, however, with the Danes holding an unassailable two-goal lead through Nicklas Bendtner and they hung on for a 2-0 win.
Norway are level on 13 points with the Danes and Portugal at the top of Group H, but both their rivals have two games remaining while they have just one. Carew will hope to figure again when they travel to Cyprus to conclude their campaign on 11 October. Only group winners are certain of a place in Ukraine and Poland next year, with play-offs being held for those finishing second in the sections.