Lee Carsley hails Liverpool star’s performance in England victory

Lee Carsley was full of praise for England midfielder Curtis Jones after the Three Lions secured a convincing 3-0 win over Greece in the UEFA Nations League.

England made sure to make up for their disappointing 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley in October when they flew to Athens to mark the final international break under interim boss Carsley. An opening strike from Ollie Watkins was enough to fire the visitors ahead in the early stages of the game, while a second goal, attributed to Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, doubled their lead late in the second-half.

However it was the third goal, scored by Jones, that left fans speechless.

The Liverpool star flicked an outrageous backheel into the back of the net to solidify his side’s victory in the final minutes of the game – marking a successful end to his senior debut.

“Curtis Jones is an outstanding player,” Carsley told ITV. “He played really well, even without his goal. With his goal it was an excellent performance. People were speaking last night about the inexperience in the squad but these players are playing for their clubs at a really high level.”

When asked to explain his own feelings around scoring on his debut for England, Jones said: “If you’ve got a team like ours, like that, I can go high, I can come low, I can get on the ball, I can play. There’s lads there to help, there’s also lads who said I can go as well. Jude [Bellingham] stayed back and I saw I had a chance to go. That’s what I did and luckily enough I scored.

“The lads around helped as well. I just went out there, I was playing free, I had a smile on my face, I was enjoying it and I’m happy that I came away with a goal as well.”

England will face the Republic of Ireland on Sunday to end their November fixtures.

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