Steven Gerrard inspects England Under 19s as Aidy Boothroyd's side stroll to friendly win over Japan at Manchester City Academy

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Steven Gerrard was in the stands as England Under 19s romped to a 5-1 victory over Japan at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium on Sunday.

The former England and Liverpool midfielder cast an eye over the next generation of stars having returned to the UK following the end of the MLS season with LA Galaxy earlier this month.

The 35-year-old, who returned to Anfield to watch his former side lose 2-1 to Crystal Palace last Sunday, ran the rule over the Young Lions as first half goals from Josh Onomah, Patrick Roberts and Tammy Abraham were added to in the second by Dan Crowley and another from Abraham.

Steven Gerrard was in the stands as England Under 19s romped to a 5-1 victory over Japan on Sunday

The former England and Liverpool skipper walks up the steps to take his seat ahead of the friendly match

Aidy Boothroyd’s side began brightly and deservedly took the lead inside nine minutes when Onomah ignored the support of Ainsley Maitland-Niles to finish from close range having evaded several challenges.

Maitland-Niles and Roberts were causing no end of problems down the flanks, and the hosts ought to have doubled their advantage when a foul on Callum Connolly inside the box resulted in a penalty.

Despite goalkeeper Ryosuke Kojima saving Abraham's resulting spot-kick down to his left, the Chelsea youngster picked himself up to assist Roberts for England's second goal moments later.

If the home side thought the floodgates were about to open, they were in for a rude awakening, however, as Japan reduced the arrears with 15 minutes of the first period remaining.

Patrick Roberts played 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' with Tammy Abraham to decide who should take the penalty

Abraham took the ball from Roberts having won the game but he subsequently missed from 12 yards

Takumi Hasegawa made a rare foray deep into the England half, and the right-back's whipped cross was met by a thundering header from Kazune Kubota that flew past Freddie Woodman off the underside of the bar.

Abraham then restored England's two-goal advantage when he buried his finish from a tight angle, enabling Boothroyd to feel more relaxed about ringing the changes at the interval.

Izzy Brown, one of a host of substitutes, nearly made an immediate impact when his strike came back off the post, but England soon had a fourth shortly after the hour-mark.

In slightly fortuitous circumstances, defender Reiya Morishita's under-hit backpass was pounced upon by the alert Abraham, who finished with aplomb for his second of the game.

And the Young Lions put extra gloss on the scoreline in stoppage time when Crowley counter-attacked following a Japan corner, holding off a defender to wrap up the win with a composed finish.

Aidy Boothroyd and his assistant Lee Carsley share a laugh on the sidelines at the Manchester City Academy

Dan Crowley caps a fine performance from Boothroyd's side with a late fifth goal against the Japanese