Noni Madueke sat at St George's Park last week proclaiming that while this is an exceptionally talented England squad, it is one that will probably fly under the radar. That not all of the names in Lee Carsley's first Under-21 squad are overly recognisable to the public.

What Madueke, the exciting PSV Eindhoven winger, might not have accounted for was one of Carsley's relative unknowns Cruyff turning his way to a magnificent debut goal with the sort of impish cheek that draws genuine gasps.

The young midfielder worth remembering in this case is Cole Palmer, a product of Manchester City's academy whose reputation is soaring to such a degree that Pep Guardiola absolutely insisted he would not go out on loan this season.

The last one Guardiola made this much fuss about was Phil Foden. And that worked out fairly well. 

Palmer's goal – stopping his marker dead, sending him packing with one change in direction and eventually fizzing in from an impossible angle - came 26 minutes into the new Carsley era. As announcements go, Palmer's was not a bad one at all.

'Cole came in [for the unwell Emile Smith Rowe] at the last minute,' Carsley said. 'What I liked most about Cole's performance was that just before he scored he was having a sticky spell.

'He was maybe trying too hard. But he just wanted to keep getting on the ball and trying to be positive. It's the mentality he has. Cole has that ability to produce really exciting flashes of brilliance. We need to create a platform for him to thrive.'

England were already one up by that point, Rhian Brewster's early penalty settling nerves of a team including a fair few who endured the ignominy of a European Championship group stage exit under Aidy Boothroyd in March.

There cannot be an awful lot to glean from a home victory in qualifying given you have to travel back a decade – 46 matches - for an England defeat. They do not lose these games and this was no different. 

Kosovo arrived with the potential to frustrate but were dealt with professionally, particularly by captain Marc Guehi and authoritative partner Taylor Harwood-Bellis when countering. 

'It was a 6.5 or a 7 out of 10 performance,' added Carsley, who had seen Oliver Skipp hobble off with a groin problem.

Yet it was a performance that will encourage, an obvious defined pattern to their play with less general reliance on individuals. That will ease the pressure on Brewster, whose first U21 goal came on his 13th appearance. 

The penalty, manufactured by an incisive Max Aarons pass from right back, was struck confidently and will help the Sheffield United striker who has found hitting the net a struggle since leaving Liverpool.