Hereford United pair Matt Baker and Michael Rose made their debuts for the England National Game XI in the 3-2 defeat against their Italian counterparts in Cremona, writes Ian Morgan.

The young England side came within a whisker of completing a thrilling comeback when, trailing 3-0 at the interval, they pulled back two goals in the second half and also had an effort ruled out for off-side.

Left-back Rose, the former Manchester United youngster, played the full 90 minutes while Baker, who had little chance with any of the Italian goals, was on the field for 74 minutes until he was replaced by Yeovil Town's Chris Weale. The England team had only trained together a couple of times before the international and, for the opening 25 minutes, Baker said that it was evident that they had never played together before.

Former Hull City goalkeeper Baker said: "The match was completely different to what we normally experience in the Nationwide Conference and the Italians had some very good players from clubs such as Cremonese, Pisa and Pescara."

He added: "It was a brilliant experience, the stadium was superb and the pitch was also very impressive.

"Representing England gave me a tremendous feeling and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck as I walked out on to the pitch."

Meanwhile, next summer's Four Nations tournament could be increased to six after two other countries expressed an interest in entering sides.

But inaugural UniBond Four Nations champions Wales, who included Hereford's Paul Parry and Tony James, are still struggling to find the finance to host the competition.

At a meeting last week between the Welsh and English FA's, Soho Square officials agreed to pay their own travel and accommodation costs - and Welsh officials are looking for similar pledges from other nations.