Gosling made his first start for the Young Lions on Monday evening as they came from behind to defeat Israel 4-1 in a friendly at Oakwell. It marked the latest stage in the 21-year-old's comeback after more than a year spent recovering from cruciate knee ligament damage sustained while he was playing for Everton in the 2009-10 season. Gosling moved to Newcastle at the end of that campaign and featured only once for them last term before being sidelined once again by swelling in his knee. Since then, though, he has impressed in pre-season for the Magpies, coming on as a late substitute in the Premier League win at Sunderland and played 70 minutes of a Carling Cup victory over Scunthorpe. He returned to international action last night and is feeling optimistic about what lies ahead - particularly having seen the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley called upon by senior head coach Fabio Capello to make the step up from the Under-21s over the past few days. "It helps that Mr Capello is considering the Under-21s and he watches us closely," Gosling said. "The gaffer (Pearce) reports back every time - they are quite close. "It can only be a good thing, and you see other lads pushing on and you think you want to be there as well. "Hopefully, you find good form for your club and then who knows?" Gosling is determined to put his period of "doom and gloom" firmly behind him. "It has obviously been a long while for me, but I've made it back and fingers crossed, I can keep injury-free and get as many games as I can," Gosling said. "It was a doom-and-gloom year really, but my friends and family kept me going. "I had a few fall-outs with the physios, but it is part and parcel and you just have to get your head around it. "As soon as I did that, it was just a lot of hard work in the gym. "I need a full run of games like I had in pre-season. If I can get a few 90 minutes quickly, then I'll feel good." An inexperienced England line-up - featuring nine changes from last Thursday's 6-0 European Championship qualifying triumph against Azerbaijan - struggled to get going in the early stages against Israel and went a goal down in the 25th minute when the visitors launched a swift counter-attack which was rounded off by Mohammad Klibat's curling strike beyond Ben Amos. But Pearce's team responded emphatically after the break, Martyn Waghorn equalising with a header in the 58th minute and Marvin Sordell firing in a thunderbolt moments later. An 82nd-minute penalty from Nathan Delfouneso and a finish from fellow substitute Henri Lansbury in injury time put the gloss on the win. Pearce has handed a host of players their under-21 debuts in the last two games and feels there are valuable lessons the group will take into next month's qualifying double-header of away clashes with Iceland and Norway. "We look as if we can cut teams open, because we have got pace and we have got people who are cute with the ball and can find a pass," Pearce said. "What we have to do in these two away games is couple that ability with a strong team structure and make sure we are a bit more solid. "I think we got broken down a little bit too easily - maybe not in the first game, but certainly against Israel. We have to learn from those mistakes."
