ROVERS midfielder David Dunn is relishing the chance to broaden his football education under the tutelage of new boss David Platt as England Under 21s prepare to enter a new dawn at Reading's Madejski Stadium tonight.

Former England legend Platt will make his bow as an international boss in this high-profile friendly against Holland after serving his managerial apprenticeship in the Nationwide League with Nottingham Forest.

And Dunn admits the chance of working under one of the most talented midfielders of his generation is something worth savouring as he looks to enhance his own international prospects over the next 12 months.

"Before training yesterday, I'd only spoken to him on the phone but he came across as a nice bloke," said Dunn.

"He knows a lot about the game, he's very experienced at all levels, and it's going to be a great challenge for me to work under him.

"But not only that, he's another midfielder as well -- like Graeme Souness was -- so it's great for someone like me to be learning off two people like that."

It might be Platt's first game in charge since succeeding Howard Wilkinson as manager, but the former Aston Villa star is already aware of Dunn's star quality after seeing him in action for Rovers against Forest last season.

As a consequence, the Ewood midfielder goes into tonight's game insisting he has nothing to prove to his new boss -- even if he is desperate to ensure his new reign starts on a winning note.

"I don't know if it's a case of proving myself again or not because he's seen a lot of the players last season and he have would seen me in our two games against Forest last season," said Dunn.

"I also heard he was at our friendly with Port Vale recently so I'm sure he knows enough about me to have already formed an opinion.

"But, that said, I'm sure everyone's keen to turn it on because it's his first game in charge and we'd love to get it off to a winning start."

Tonight's opponents, Holland, have an enviable reputation for producing exciting young players after clubs like Ajax have spent the last decade or so at the forefront of Youth Development.

But Dunn believes it's about time England were also recognised as a force at Under 21 level after making great strides themselves in that department over the last few years.

"The Dutch have got a great tradition of bringing through young players, just like the Spanish, who are the best side I've ever played against at this level.

"But, though everyone talks about the young foreign players knocking about, let's not forget we've got some great young players ourselves at the minute, both in the senior squad and with the Under 21s."

Tonight's game marks the second of three huge fixtures for Dunn in the space of a fortnight, sandwiched inbetween Rovers' games against Barcelona and Manchester United.

But, despite the demanding workload, the 21-year-old is adamant he would not have it any other way.

"What a test to play the likes of Barcelona, Holland and Manchester United in the space of 10 days," said Dunn.

"But this is why you're in the game, to play against teams like this, and I personally can't wait for the next game to come along at the minute.

"Sunday was a great work-out for us.

"It's always encouraging to get a good result a week before the season starts properly, especially against a team like Barca.

"But I don't think the scoreline flattered us at all because we did well against quality opposition.

"They had a lot of possession but then we always knew that was going to be the case.

"The manager has told us we're going to come up against a lot of good sides this year and we are going to have to sit back more and soak up the pressure.

"So we've got to be more disciplined as a team in our defending and I thought that was something we did well on Sunday."