The Manchester City defender has made an astounding transition to the international stage since becoming the eighth-youngest England player of all-time in the November draw with Holland.

Richards has taken advantage of Gary Neville's injury woe to become a permanent fixture in Steve McClaren's side and even when the Manchester United skipper is fit again, it is by no means certain he will oust the 19-year-old.

Certainly there are plenty of people backing Richards' claims, judging by the sheer scale of the congratulations he found when he switched his mobile on in the home dressing room at Wembley.

"Any time you score for England is going to be special but to get my first goal at Wembley in front of 85,000 people in such an important Euro 2008 qualifier really made it something to remember," he told www.mcfc.co.uk

"When I picked up my phone after the game I had 153 texts waiting for me - a lot of people wanted to congratulate me."

Among those to offer more personal messages were McClaren and dad Lincoln, who has been unstinting in his support of Richards' career, rarely missing an opportunity to watch his son in action.

Ironically, Richards snr missed his son's moment of glory at the weekend as he was opening his own soccer school in Ethiopia.

"My Dad is still in Africa but he watched the game and when I spoke to him he was pretty happy too - understandably," he said.

"He had actually told me that I was going to score some time soon for England so I am glad he was right."

Richards could never be accused of lacking in confidence.

McClaren confirmed he got the impression of a youngster being totally at ease with his surroundings during Richards' first day of England training.

Little has changed since judging by the Birmingham-born star's goalscoring celebration, or the conviction with which he addresses his forthcoming battle with Neville to be England's first-choice right-back.

"My celebration was me saying 'Richards. Remember the name' - because if you didn't know it before, then now you do," he said.

"I had told people that if I scored for England I would do that, so I had to stick to my word.

"Steve McClaren has talked about how quickly I have adjusted to international football. But I have never had any nerves because, the way I saw it, I play in the Premier League week-in, week-out and I thought I had been as good as some of the players I played against that had been in the England squad.

"When Gary Neville is fit again, it is down to the manager who plays but I think I have done well enough to keep my place."