Jones & Smalling

We’re the future for Utd & England

CHRIS SMALLING reckons he and Phil Jones will go on to become the backbone of the Manchester United and England defences for many years to come.

Centre-back Jones' £16.6million move from Blackburn to United was finally confirmed yesterday.
And the first person to congratulate him was his new Old Trafford team-mate and fellow defender Smalling.
The pair are currently here in Denmark with the England Under-21 squad at the Euro Championships.
They were outstanding alongside each other at the heart of the defence as Stuart Pearce's Young Lions scraped a 1-1 draw with tournament favourites Spain in their group opener in Herning on Sunday night.
Smalling, 21, who joined United from Fulham for £10m a year ago, now believes the pair will develop an even better understanding as their careers progress with both club and country.
Their sterling displays next to each other played a major part in sealing the England U-21s qualification for this month's finals.
And Smalling said: "Phil and I have played together for the last two group games and the play-off win over Romania.
"I was in the squad before him but since then Jonah has come in and done really well.
"We've set out our stall from the start and he has played so well.
"I don't think we've lost a competitive match when we've played alongside each other for the U-21s. If we get a couple more clean sheets in our next group games then that should see us through the group and into the knockout stages.
"It's brilliant that Phil and I will be playing at the same club. I've really enjoyed playing with him for England and hopefully we can get better for United and England.
"He's a great player and it's hard to believe sometimes he is only 19.
"Hopefully that means we can play together for a few more years."
Smalling is under no illusions, though, as he knows England centre-back Rio Ferdinand and Serb star Nemanja Vidic will remain United boss Alex Ferguson's first-choice central defensive pairing for the next season - at least.
But the ex-Fulham man Smalling insists he and Jones will complement each other in the same way their more experienced team-mates do.
He said: "People are asking us which of us is the tough centre-half like Vidic and who is the silky one like Rio? To be honest, it's a difficult question to answer because I think we have each got a bit of both of them in our game.
"When we're with the U-21s the manager Stuart Pearce wants us both to attack and not to give the striker an inch.

"It was difficult against Spain but in the second half we were stepping forward another yard.
"It should have been difficult for Phil with his move to United still going through but you wouldn't have thought it, would you? He was excellent.
"We've trained and played well together in the last couple of weeks.
"The move won't change that and our togetherness showed right until the last minute against Spain and I'm sure it will benefit us in the future."