Phil Jones hits back at Stuart Pearce snub claims
Manchester United’s Phil Jones has hit back at Stuart Pearce’s claims that he snubbed an England under-21 call this summer.
Pearce singled out Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as two players who missed the European Championship because they felt that dropping back down from the senior squad was beneath them.
Yet, in speaking of players going through the “golden ivory towers of the seniors”, Pearce left Jones hurt and confused as that is not how the 21-year-old views the situation at all.
And on a visit to his old school, Balshaw’s CE High School in Leyland, to deliver football equipment he helped pay for as part of a combined initiative involving the Premier League, PFA and United, Jones decided to set the record straight.
“I didn’t expect it and I am disappointed,” said Jones. “It is simply not true. I have represented the under-19s, the under-21s and the seniors. I said from the first day I pulled on an England shirt, it sent shivers down my spine. How he can come out and say I didn’t want to play for the under-21s is beyond me. It wasn’t nice to read what he said and I’m sure Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is thinking the same thing.”
Having missed the first three months of last season, and another six-week period between the middle of February and the beginning of April with a knee injury, Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to protect Jones.
In addition, England manager Roy Hodgson would not countenance any player chosen for the post-season trip to Brazil to also be selected for under-21 duty.
Hodgson informed Pearce he wanted Jones with him in Rio and he completed the full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw at the Maracana Stadium, having played the second half of a Wembley clash with the Republic of Ireland four days earlier.
“It was totally out of my hands,” said Jones. “Roy Hodgson came out prior to the under-21 tournament and said he regarded me as a senior player. I went on to play against Ireland and Brazil, so it wasn’t a waste of time going with the seniors. Don’t forget also I had just come back from a knee injury, for the second time, and I had to manage it in the right way, control it and make sure I wasn’t overusing it.
“That’s why I am really disappointed in these comments.”