Jones can be Qats whiskers
England U21 v Albania U21 Kick-off, 7.45pm
ENGLAND Under-21 boss Lee Carsley has challenged Curtis Jones to play his way into Gareth Southgate’s World Cup plans.
The Liverpool midfielder was the star of the show when the young Lions beat the Czech Republic on Friday, and a win against Albania in Chesterfield tonight will clinch the group and a place in next summer’s Euro finals.
But Carsley believes Jones, 21, who played 27 times for Liverpool last season, could have even bigger targets in his sights.
He said: “It’s definitely not impossible. Gareth has shown in the past if you are playing well for your club, scoring goals, assisting goals or stopping them, you will get a chance.
“I think potentially they won’t do themselves any harm in this window because Gareth and the rest of the staff watch our games.
“It’s important they take care of their club form as well, so they have a good pre-season and start off in a position where they can be selectable.
“It’s difficult to select players for our seniors who aren’t playing week in week out for their club first team.
“Some of these have the ability to do that, so to say the ball is in their court is the obvious thing.”
Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe, 21, already capped three times by England, is another of the under-21s who may have Qatar in his sights. And Carsley believes if Jones pushes himself, he could follow him into the full squad.
He said: “He has energy, he’s fast, he has real power, a real natural balance on the ball, he can take it either side.
“I think he can score more, I think he can assist more. When he gets in front of goal, he’s got that quality. He has a lot of attributes. He needs to show it on a regular basis.”