IF Sven-Goran Eriksson had travelled to St James' Park last night looking for good omens ahead of England's crucial encounter with Turkey at the Stadium of Light, he would have returned to their Slaley Hall base disappointed.

Like Eriksson's senior team this evening, England's Under-21s desperately needed to beat the Turks to boost their European Championship qualification hopes.

Instead, they played out an uninspiring draw that leaves them in third place in Group 7 and facing an uphill struggle to finish in the top two, thereby securing a place in the play-offs.

Certainly, coach David Platt could scarcely have envisaged such a poor return from the double-header with Portugal - who beat England 4-2 on Friday - and Turkey.

And Platt said: "At the moment we are bottom of a three team group. But it is still in our own hands because we have still got to play Turkey and Portugal again.

"The performance was OK. I said to the players they can take a great deal of pride from the character they showed.

"The attitude from the two players that came down from the seniors 48 hours ago was brilliant. I think Franny (Francis Jeffers) just keeps scoring goals and I thought Jermaine Jenas was a colossus."

One of the few positives to come from the display was Jeffers's 13th goal for the Under-21s - equalling a record held by Alan Shearer.

But for the large part, England were short of their best, and the visitors were certainly good value for their point.

With 4,000 police on duty for tonight's full international, one can only hope Turkey's senior players show rather more common sense than their Under-21 team after they incensed the fans at St James' Park.

Tuncay Sanli and his teammates marked the striker's 14th-minute goal that gave Turkey the lead by celebrating provocatively in front of supporters at the Gallowgate End.

Sanli was booed thereafter, and the incident took the shine off a superb individual performance from the best player on the pitch by some distance.

A number of cynical Turkish challenges - Servet Cetin was booked for a deliberate handball as Jeffers tried to run through on goal - also detracted from a match that started brightly but soon deteriorated into a scrappy affair.

Joe Cole showed why he does not figure in Eriksson's senior squad with a handful of mistakes that could have proved very costly.

He was guilty of giving away possession in a dangerous position on two separate occasions in the first half, with the first instance particularly damning.

Cole twice had the opportunity to clear the ball from inside England's penalty area after a Turkey corner, only to find a red shirt on both occasions.

The West Ham United midfielder was relieved to see Sanli's shot hit the outside of the net, then he received a verbal volley from Peter Clarke.

Later, Cole was found wanting in a 50-50 challenge, and as Turkey broke with four attackers against three defenders it took a superb intervention from Nottingham Forest's Michael Dawson to prevent Sanli from racing through and extending the Turks' lead.

Cole produced a number of neat tricks and flicks, but the watching Eriksson must have departed Newcastle satisfied he had made the right decision in omitting the 21-year-old from his squad.

Although England claim to have a rich crop of young talent, there was little evidence that the production line is functioning well last night.

Turkey caused an England backline that was missing Newcastle United's Titus Bramble - suspended after picking up his second booking of the competition - all sorts of problems.

The opening goal came from a well-worked move that saw Ibrahim Yavuz find Okan Koc in space with a crossfield ball.

Gareth Barry did not close down Koc quickly enough, and from his centre Sanli darted in front of Clarke to stab home from four yards.

That strike came after Jeffers had wastefully fired wide when clean through after a neat interchange involving David Prutton and Cole.

While Turkey were a menacing threat going forward, England managed to pick holes in their vulnerable defence, and an equaliser duly came in the 25th minute.

Barry rode a robust challenge to release the unmarked Jeffers, who at first seemed to have spurned his opening as he was closed down.

But he produced a neat finish from 12 yards to send the ball flashing past stationary goalkeeper Volkan Demirel and just inside the far post.

England pressed in search of a second goal, but in truth they rarely looked like securing the victory that would have been a huge boon after the Portugal defeat.

The second half was virtually a non-event, with Carlton Cole ineffective after he replaced Jermain Defoe and England lacking a killer edge.

Even £10m striker Jeffers failed to live up to his billing, miskicking horribly from around the penalty spot in the dying stages.

Sanli had a "goal" disallowed for offside in one of Turkey's few raids, and they saw off with comfort what little England had to offer going forward.

England Under-21s 1 Turkey Under-21s 1