MIDDLESBROUGH'S highly-rated goalkeeper Jason Steele is a step closer to ending a largely depressing season in the Championship on a high.

The 22-year-old's reward for a relatively impressive campaign on a personal note at club level has earned him a place in the provisional 40-man England squad for this summer's European Under-21 Championships.

He will learn if he has made the final cut later in the week when coach Stuart Pearce is expected to trim the squad down to the 23 players who will be heading to Israel for the finals.

Steele and Jack Butland, who looks set to start next season as Stoke City's No 1 after ending his loan with former club Birmingham, are the front-runners to be included by Pearce.

And if they are then they will head to a training camp in Turkey at the end of May before England start the tournament by facing Italy in a group game on June 5. They are also due to face Norway and Israel before the knock-out rounds.

Steele, whose performances for Boro have caught the eye of a number of Premier League clubs despite a failure to stay in the promotion mix, played every game of Middlesbrough's 46-match season in the Championship.

Last summer he was also involved in the Team GB squad building up to and during the Olympics, but still went on to claim the player of the year and young player of the year awards voted by Boro fans.

If he does travel to Israel, he is likely to be given extra time by Boro when Tony Mowbray brings his squad back for pre-season training on June 24.

Steele is not the only Middlesbrough player who could be on international duty, with three young guns hoping to play in this summer's Under-20 World Cup.

Adam Reach, Connor Ripley and Luke Williams have been named in a 32-man England Under-20s squad for a training camp. They will hope to avoid the cut when it is reduced to 21 by June 7 when the players will train at St George's Park.