Derby's Mason Mount watched by England manager Gareth Southgate

England manager Gareth Southgate took a closer look at U21 midfielder Mason Mount after attending Derby's Championship match against Blackburn rather than Liverpool's Champions League clash with PSG on Tuesday.

Mount joined the Rams on loan from Chelsea in the summer and has enjoyed a productive start to life at Pride Park, scoring four goals in 10 appearances.

He was unable to inspire Derby to victory with Frank Lampard's side held to a goalless draw by Blackburn, although he did rattle the crossbar with a stunning free-kick.

Lampard was quick to praise the 19-year-old's quality and admitted he will be up to the task should Southgate come calling.

"Mason was fantastic, it is how he has been playing for us every game," said Lampard. "His free-kick was top class and his general play was creative, and work-rate and passing were excellent. There is more to come from him.

"I think Gareth would have been impressed. Talking about young English players playing week in, week out, Mason is doing incredibly well as is Jayden Bogle - his performance in the first half was incredible.

"Mason is a great example of the loan system. Chelsea have a got a great young talent and him coming here helps both them and us, and he can do anything he wants.

"That's not to stay he will go in and be an England starter in their next game, as it's Gareth Southgate's choice, but whatever level you put him in, because of his quality, work ethic and mentality, he will do anything he wants to."

Mount, who is yet to make a senior appearance for Chelsea, spent last season on loan at Dutch side Vitesse, where he scored 14 goals in 32 games.

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He has represented England at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 level and was invited to train with the senior squad by Southgate ahead of the World Cup in Russia.

Southgate complained three weeks ago that there were not enough English players playing first-team football in the Premier League.

Only 21 English players have played every minute of the first five Premier League games of this season - 15 being either goalkeepers or defenders.

Southgate watched Arsenal win 2-1 at Newcastle on Saturday, with only three English players starting the game - Newcastle's Jamaal Lascelles, Isaac Hayden and Jacob Murphy.

Danny Welbeck, who started England's 1-0 victory against Switzerland earlier this month, came on as an 80th-minute substitute for Arsenal.

In the 10 Premier League games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 29 per cent of the starters were English - 63 out of 220 players.

The lowest percentage of English starters in a month was 27.1 per cent in October 2015.

The number of English starters has been falling since the 1992-93 season when 72 per cent of the starters were English.

21 ENGLISH PLAYERS WHO HAVE PLAYED EVERY MINUTE THIS SEASON:

Goalkeepers
Joe Hart (Burnley)
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Alex McCarthy (Southampton)
Ben Foster (Watford)

Defenders
Steve Cook (Bournemouth)
Ben Mee (Burnley)
James Tarkowski (Burnley)
Sean Morrison (Cardiff City)
Joe Bennett (Cardiff City)
Harry Maguire (Leicester City)
Ben Chilwell (Leicester City)
Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
Ryan Bertrand (Southampton)
Ryan Bennett (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Midfielders
Dan Gosling (Bournemouth)
Dale Stephens (Brighton)
Jack Cork (Burnley)
Joe Ralls (Cardiff City)

Forwards
Aaron Lennon (Burnley)
Nathan Redmond (Southampton)