TEENAGE Worcester prodigy Mark Little has refused to let a little hindrance like the date of his birth get in the way of a promising football career.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' hot prospect played his first game in England colours yesterday, stepping out for the Under 18s in a 1-0 friendly defeat in Turkey.

It has been a rapid progression for the former Nunnery Wood High School pupil who only joined Wolves at the age of 14 and motored on to pen a three-year professional contract less than three months ago when he turned 17.

Little's signature would have been secured by former England ace Glenn Hoddle, the boss at Molineux, even earlier if he was not one of a rare batch of professional footballers whose birthday falls in August.

Youngest

With age groups running from September 1 to August 31, the Tolladine teenager, born on the 20th, is one of the youngest in his year across the country but few would realise.

Little is a strapping 6ft 2ins right-back with electric pace and dogged determination who has become a regular feature in the Wolves reserve team after impressing in last season's FA Youth Cup run to the semi-finals.

His attributes made him difficult for Hoddle to ignore and now he has earned an England Under 18 cap after narrowly missing out on a summer Under 17 appearance at the European Championships.

Wolves academy director Chris Evans is clearly a big fan of Little and believes he could go on to at least cement a first-team place at the Championship giants in the future.

Evans said: "One of the reasons why Mark has raised so many eyebrows is because he's so young. Professional players born in August are exceptionally rare in British football.

"An analysis of all footballers in England show the vast majority are born in September, October and November as they are the oldest, more mature and psychologically adept.

"But Mark's never allowed that to disadvantage him. You would never know. When the England selectors were watching him, they were amazed to find out he was an August birth.

"He's coped with it all and is a really smashing young man, a credit to his family, and has always got a smile on his face. He's got a lot of hard work ahead of him but his progress to date has been admirable and I'm very pleased with him.

"All of the hurdles that have been put in front of him, he has got over and I urge him to push on and not be satisfied until he makes that first team.

"He has to raise his goals and targets but is a very focussed young man and I feel he has a very bright future. Glenn has already showed he believes that if the players are good enough, then they are old enough."

Little played for local sides such as Worcester City and Perdiswell Braves and then did not allow a failed trial at Aston Villa to put him off.

He secured another at Wolves and within 40 minutes had done enough to persuade the club to take him under their wing.

Evans admitted: "Mark needed a lot of polishing up but he had a great attitude and good attributes. Now he's 6ft 2ins, very quick and has great battling qualities which, being a defender, is critical.

"He's got a never-say-die approach to his game and has worked very hard, travelling three or four times a week as a schoolboy from Worcester up to Wolverhampton for special training.

"He made the youth team very early and was able to hold his own. Last season we had an excellent run in the FA Youth Cup and Mark was quite outstanding.

"He was elevated to reserve-team football which for a 16-year-old is quite a thing. Now his England call-up is another brick in the wall in his football development."

Little could well be the next big thing to come out of Worcester.