A creative player with an eye for goal Lallana was provider and executioner in almost equal measure in front of in his final season as a schoolboy. Playing "in the hole" for Saints Under 17 side he found the net on 14 occasions and laid on 11 assists for others - the most for any player in Saints' Academy.

The 2004/5 campaign started slowly for Lallana however as he required surgery to correct an irregular heart-beat - a condition discovered during the medical examination that followed a first call-up for the England Under 17 squad.

He made a full recovery though as the prospect of a return to the Three Lions set up fired his return and he was knocking on the selectors door by the summer with seven goals to his name in a season that only began in November.

He was also a crucial player for Saints Under 18s side, as well as turning in some assured displays for the second string. In April 2006 he also made a goal-scoring debut for England's Under 18 side hitting the opener in the Three Lions 2-1 victory over Slovenia in his home town of Bournemouth.

He impressed in the pre-season friendly at Cheltenham and scored the only goal for the Reserves as they beat Wycombe in their opening fixture. That earned him promotion to the senior squad at Barnsley where he was an unused substitute. Made his first-team debut in the Carling Cup win over Yeovil and held his place for the next match at home to Preston. Broke back into the squad late in the 2007-08 season and scored his first goal in the penultimate game, a crucial 1-1 draw at West Brom.

In 2008/09 he enjoyed a long spell in the first team which led to a call up to Stuart Pearce's England Under-21 squad for the play-off games against Wales where he faced his Southampton team-mate, Lloyd James.