England star sends touching tribute to George Baldock after match-winning performance

James McAtee dedicated his goals for England under-21s to his former team-mate after putting in a match-winning performance on Friday night.

McAtee scored twice late on as the Young Lions came from 1-0 down to beat 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium. Taras Mykhavko put Ukraine ahead with a header from an inswinging corner before McAtee turned things around for the home side.

The midfielder curled in a stunning free-kick from the edge of the box to equalise in the 88th minute. He then calmly slotted in a loose ball after Ukraine failed to deal with a low cross from Jamie Bynoe-Gittens to win it in the 92nd minute.

After scoring both goals McAtee lifted up his England shirt to reveal a message underneath which read: “GB 2 REST EASY BROTHER X”. McAtee spent two seasons on loan at Sheffield United, where he played alongside Baldock, who was tragically earlier this week.

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Baldock wore the No.2 shirt for the Blades, making 219 appearances and twice helping them achieve promotion from the Championship to the . McAtee was emotional after netting the second of his goals, collapsing to the floor by the corner flag to celebrate with his team-mates, before standing up to reveal the message.

Sharing a photo of the tribute on , McAtee wrote: “The boy has looked after me tonight. 2 special goals for a special person, I know he would have loved that, all for him and his family and our family back in Sheffield”.

He received supportive replies from his England under-21s team-mates Liam Delap and Morgan Rogers, as well as ex-Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie and current Blade Oli Arblaster. Meanwhile, McAtee’s City team-mate wrote: “Well done brother!!”

Tributes have poured in for Baldock over the past few days, with to their former team-mate. Baldock started his career with MK Dons and, after a series of loan spells, spent seven years with Sheffield United before leaving for Greek club Panathinaikos in the summer. He won 12 caps for .

"He wasn't one to grab the headlines but George was a huge personality, a huge driver, a huge culture carrier in everything we did," former Blades boss Chris Wilder said in . "He was a humble person. We had rows, we had bust-ups, but we were all driving it forward and after the same outcome in everything that we did.

"Just even thinking about it now, families have lost a son, players have lost a brother. Those boys that went to battle with George, and he stood up to every challenge. He was an absolute pleasure to manage. He gave his maximum in everything he did and that's what every Sheffield United fan wants."

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