JONES: I EXPECT TOUGHEST TEST YET

CYMRU C boss Mark Jones believes his team are in for a much tougher game against England C this time round with a repeat of last year’s 4-0 win “only in their wildest dreams”.

Jones named a 20-man squad for the game against the Three Lions at Altrincham’s J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday, with the former Carmarthen Town boss in charge of the Dragons for the fourth time. Six new players have been called up for the first time – Ben Ahmun, Gwion Dafydd, Josh Williams, Ryan Sears, Sam Jones, and Sion Bradley – while top scorer in JD Cymru South with 26 goals from 27 games, Kayne McLaggon also gets a call, for the third time in succession.

“I looked at who played last year and most of them, or nearly all of them, were playing well anyway so it ticks two boxes,” Jones said.

“I just think everyone who got in from last year has deserved it and a couple who haven’t got in from last year just most probably weren’t playing regularly enough or have maybe not hit the heights of last year. “Kayne McLaggon is crucial because he’s the type of player who played really well last year, he leads the line well and he’s an intelligent player; he can handle this level – he’s also weighed in with 26 goals.

“But even though we won last year, we start as the game as underdogs. The standard is so high. “We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground – the 4-0 win over England, in your dreams it happens again, we are expecting a much tougher game this time round.” This is the fourth time that these two Home Nations rivals have met in recent years. England C won the first meeting 3-2 at Barry Town United’s Jenner Park in 2018, before a 2-2 draw at Salford City in 2019 before Covid struck and the 2020 clash was cancelled.

But the Welsh certainly earned the bragging rights last March when four first-half goals sealed victory in Caernarfon against an England side with several players who moved to the EFL. “Don’t forget we are most probably playing against a group of full time professionals with every one of their players,” Jones said.