Thomas Tuchel reserved lofty praise for James Garner following his England debut against Uruguay, describing the Everton midfielder as a mini Federico Valverde.

Garner received his first call-up to the Three Lions' senior setup after helping Everton into contention for a top-seven finish in the Premier League.

Garner anchored England's midfield alongside Jordan Henderson as Tuchel's experimental side were made to settle for a 1-1 draw, with the returning Ben White opening the scoring then conceding a stoppage-time penalty, which was calmly converted by Valverde.

No other player on the pitch could match Garner's four chances created, while he also led the way for passes in the final third (15) and won six of his nine duels. 

Speaking after the game, Tuchel compared Garner to Valverde, who has earned plaudits for his performances for Real Madrid in recent weeks. 

"I'm very happy – he's our mini Valverde," Tuchel said of the Everton man. "He's getting there, and he played very, very well. 

"I was quite sure that he would play well because he has this natural confidence and he's just very physical. He won a lot of balls.

"I think there are some situations where he can be a little bit more open with his body position and drive maybe a little bit more through midfield, with more confidence.

"I think in the last 10 minutes of the first half, he was involved in some ball losses that cost us a bit of confidence.

"But overall, I was very impressed with the way he trained and the way he behaved. The way he played was good."

Tuchel's team choice attracted criticism in some quarters, as it showed 11 changes from the lineup that started England's last competitive fixture – a 2-0 win over Albania in World Cup qualifying last November.

But Tuchel insists he was able to take plenty away from the match, ahead of facing Japan in another Wembley friendly on Tuesday.

"I learned a lot because it was a tough opponent," Tuchel said. "You just see it in the details. You learn a lot in the details, how the behaviour is. You can see the level.

"If you play against [Manuel] Ugarte, if you play against Valverde in midfield, you see the level."