BORN-AND-BRED Englishman Jodi Jones was playing non-league just weeks ago – now he is hoping to down the Three Lions and pal James Maddison.
And he is hoping to condemn Gareth Southgate’s men to one of their most embarrassing moments with a country he had only previously visited once before receiving his first international call-up.
Jodi Jones hopes to follow promotion with Notts County by shocking EnglandRex
Winger Jones previously played for Dagenham & Redbridge, Coventry City and Oxford United in the Football League before dropping into the National League last summer permanently following a loan spell at Notts County.
But he and the Magpies sealed their return to the EFL after beating Chesterfield on penalties in the play-off final last month.
Now the 25-year-old is looking to mark an incredible few weeks by helping Malta to cause a huge shock at the Ta’Qali National Stadium in Friday’s European Championship qualifier.
It’s an unlikely situation, especially for somebody raised in Bow, London, but it is one Jones is relishing.
He told Casino.Org: “I have Maltese connections on both sides of my family, but more on my dad’s side. I had been to Malta before, but a long time ago when I was on the youth team at Dagenham and Redbridge.
“It was crazy because when I came out here for only the second time to play for the national team, I recognised the training ground from back then, and I thought, I’ve played here before!
“The Maltese FA got in touch with my dad’s side. They managed to find a lot of my family members so that they could contact me.
“I was actually getting some Instagram messages from Malta representatives, but you know what it’s like with Instagram, and you never know if it’s genuine or not.
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“Luke Gambin (Sutton United) also plays for Malta and he messaged me too and said ‘they keep asking about you out here, I’m just letting you know.’
“We didn’t really know each other at the time. My dad was also telling me that they keep calling and they want me to play, and this actually went on for about three three years.”
Jones continued: “I’ll be honest, at first, I wasn’t really interested. I’d had a few injuries while I was at Coventry and I wanted to focus on coming back from them and sorting out my club football first.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to do it, but I knew I needed to knuckle down at the time.
“Then I was at Oxford and I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted to, so I thought, why not take up this opportunity? I thought if I go out there and play well and show what I can do on an international stage, it would put my name back out there.
“To be fair, it worked. I’m in a better position than I was back then. I wasn’t playing at Oxford for some reason that I didn’t know, and neither did the fans. It was a really strange situation.
“So then I went to Malta and played against Israel and Northern Ireland. When I got back to Oxford after the Northern Ireland game, everybody was telling me how well I’d played.
“Remember, I hadn’t started a game for Oxford, and when I came back from that Malta match, I started the next game. So straight away I thought ‘okay, this is a good thing for me.’
“It didn’t work out at Oxford, but since then I’ve been coming back to Malta for every game we’ve had.”
Jones, who now has six caps to his name, admits that he grew up fantasising about pulling on the Three Lions.
England star James Maddison is one of the winger’s best friendsGetty
“As a kid you dream of playing for England, so when I decided to play for Malta, I had to let go of that,” he admitted.
“Although it was probably never realistic. Look at how many amazing players still don’t get called up for England.
“One of my friends – James Maddison – was playing amazing football week in and week out at the time, and he was never getting picked at the time. That was something I had to look at.
“It’s funny because we’ve played on the same team but I’ve never played against him. Malta is a good side, and we are improving, but England are an incredible side. It will be a good battle on the pitch and we’ll try our best, and I’ll try my best.
“It’s an honour to play against him [Maddison], but at the same time, on the pitch, I’ve got a job to do and will be fully concentrated on that.
Despite his love of England, he is now desperate to down them this week.
Jones said: “It’s going to be an amazing experience and a massive occasion.
“It will be weird for me, of course, as I’ve always followed England, bought all of the shirts growing up and that. Most of my family live in England, so it’ll be a mad feeling. But honestly, I can’t wait for it.
“Everybody knows that it’s going to be a hard game, just like when we played against Italy not long ago. We lost 2-0 in that match, but a lot of people would have expected a bigger scoreline.
“When you’re playing against England, you’re playing against some of the best players in the world. But as exciting as that is, when I step on the pitch, I’ve got a job to do.
AlamyJones is desperate to score against the Three Lions despite hailing from London[/caption]
“I can’t be starstruck and thinking ‘oh my god, I’m playing against him’. As soon as you’re on the pitch, all of that goes out of the window and we have to play our best and do as well as we can.
“When the game is over, that’s when I can reflect on how amazing it is to play against England. But when I’m on the pitch, it’s a different story.”
Jones added: “Oh I would love to score against England. I’ve not scored for Malta yet, and I always believe that no matter who we play against, I’m always going to get at least one chance. It’s just whether I take that chance.
“I had a chance against Italy, and I maybe could have done better. I had a great chance against Northern Ireland and I had a few chances against Israel and ended up with an assist.
“It would be a weird feeling, but at the time, if it did happen, I’d just be so excited. Especially with all of my family coming out, I don’t think I’d even think about it being against England until after the game..”
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