Stones relishing 'special' England moment after being handed Three Lions armband

By Sports Desk October 09, 2024

Lee Carsley revealed that John Stones will lead out England in their Nations League clash against Greece on Thursday, with Harry Kane set to start the encounter on the bench.

Stones, who has made 81 caps for the Three Lions since his debut in 2014, will captain his nation for the first time at the start of a match. 

During Gareth Southgate's tenure, only Kane (81) and Kyle Walker (70) made more appearances than Stones (68 - level with Jordan Pickford). 

The Manchester City defender has become a mainstay in the England side in recent years, helping his nation to their two major tournament final appearances in consecutive European Championships.

"It's everything I could have dreamed of as a kid. More for my family, to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment," Stones said. 

"One I can't thank Lee enough for. An incredible moment for me.

"To be walking out with the armband on is an absolute honour and a moment I'll cherish forever."

"It was a great conversation I was able to have with John to ask him to captain the team," Carsley added. 

"It's a brilliant achievement, something he deserves with the amount of caps he's got, the level of professionalism he's shown, the example he is to young players."

Carsley later confirmed Kane could still play a part against Greece and would be in the running to face Finland on Sunday.

Kane, who marked his 100th England appearance with two goals in the Three Lions' 2-0 win over Finland last month, suffered an ankle injury in Bayern Munich's draw with Bayer Leverkusen in his final match before the international break.

The 31-year-old has since trained away from the main group of players. 

"Harry is nursing an injury, a small knock, something we won't take a chance with," said Carsley.

The interim Three Lions boss was also asked about the role of Cole Palmer, with the Chelsea forward enjoying a fine start to the Premier League campaign. 

Palmer has scored six goals in seven games in the league this term, four of which came in a stunning display against Brighton, becoming the first player in Premier League history to net four times before half-time in a single match. 

The 22-year-old leads the Premier League for the most goal involvements this campaign (11), with only Bukayo Saka (27) creating more chances in the top flight this season than Palmer (23 - level with Andreas Pereira and Dwight McNeil). 

Palmer was also recently named England's Men's Player of the Year for 2023-24, and Carsley expects him to carry on his impressive form in England's next two fixtures.

"Cole is in fantastic form. He's carried that into this week," said Carsley. "Such an exciting player, a player I've worked with for four, five years now.

"Cole, along with a lot of other attacking players who have put themselves into a great position to start the game."

Related items

  • Excelsior, St Catherine consolidate group honours after 5-1, 1-1 scorelines against Jonathan Grant, Jamaica College Excelsior, St Catherine consolidate group honours after 5-1, 1-1 scorelines against Jonathan Grant, Jamaica College

    Excelsior High and St Catherine High consolidated their positions atop Groups Two and Four after registering contrasting performances against Jonathan Grant and Jamaica College, respectively, on the final day of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup Round of 16 encounters on Saturday.

    Excelsior High registered a commanding 5-1 win over Jonathan Grant to finish at the summit of Group Two with maximum nine points.

    They will be joined in the quarterfinal by Tivoli Gardens, who ended second with four points and a slightly better goal difference ahead of Eltham (four points) after they played out a lively 2-2 stalemate in the other group fixture.

    Over in Group Four, St Catherine’s 1-1 stalemate with former champions Jamaica College saw them top the group with seven points, two points ahead of their Old Hope Road-based opponents, who ended with five points to also progress to the quarterfinal.

    Calabar ended third on four points after they defeated Charlie Smith 3-0 in a game of academic interest.

    The quarterfinal groups will see Mona High, Tivoli High, Jamaica College and Kingston College crossing swords in Group A, while St Catherine, Excelsior High, Campion College and Hydel are set to do battle in Group B.

    Meanwhile, all other teams that failed to progress from the Round of 16 will contest the Walker Cup knockout competition.

    Saturday’s results

    St Catherine 1, Jamaica College 1

    Eltham 2, Tivoli High 2

    Excelsior 5, Jonathan Grant 1

    Calabar 3, Charlie Smith 0

  • New daCosta Cup champs to be crowned as Clarendon College eliminated after 1-2 loss to Cornwall College New daCosta Cup champs to be crowned as Clarendon College eliminated after 1-2 loss to Cornwall College

    A new champion will be crowned in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata daCosta Cup as defending champions Clarendon College were knocked out at the competition following a 1-2 loss to Cornwall College in their final Round of 16 contest in May Pen on Saturday.

    Deshaun Talbert (33rd) and Dante Escoffery (44th) got the goals in the consolation win for Cornwall College in Zone Two, while Nicholy Forbes pulled one back for Clarendon College in the 73rd.

    The result saw both teams being eliminated from the daCosta Cup as Zone winners Munro College (seven points) and Frome Technical (five points) secured the quarterfinal spots after a goalless stalemate in the other zone contest.

    Cornwall College and Clarendon College ended on three points and one point, respectively. However, both teams will have a shot at the Ben Francis knockout title.

    Theodore ‘Tappa’ Whitmore was pleased with the fact that his team ended the daCosta Cup on a high.

    “I think it was more the desire and commitment with which we played. The second half of the season has been lacking but they came out this afternoon and we could see the fight and commitment from the players. The Ben Francis Cup is still a trophy to play for so we are looking forward to it, but it is a game-by-game situation so we just want to get the first game out the way and then see where we go from there,” Whitmore said in a post-game interview.

    Though Clarendon College had a slight chance of progressing, provided they won and Frome Technical lost, it was Cornwall College, playing for pride, that looked more purposeful from the start.

    Kayvon Donaldson proved troublesome to the opponent’s defence as he got the first two warning shots off from distance, the first of which went straight at Lydel Rodney in goal for Clarendon College, while the second sailed over the crossbar.

    Donaldson, sporting the number 14 jersey, continued to lead Cornwall College’s attacking line and his persistence proved rewarding when he won a penalty after being taken out inside the 18-yard box. Talbert later converted the 12-yard kick.

    With Clarendon College looking deflated, Cornwall College doubled their lead when Escoffery produced a well-timed run to meet a weighted pass inside the 18-yard box and head past Rodney, who should have done better.

    Clarendon College showed more life on the resumption and created a few decent opportunities, with Forbes at the forefront of each attack.

    The player sporting the number nine jersey first went close in the 71st when he was played in behind defenders, but his first effort came back off the upright, while the follow-up attempt was kept out by Carlyle Tinglin in goal for Cornwall College.

    Forbes again went close soon after, but again failed to beat Tinglin, who was well-positioned to stop the effort.

    He inevitably hit the back of the net when he finished a rebound after Tinglin spilled the ball from Nashon Bolt’s freekick.

    Clarendon College’s Head coach, Lenworth ‘Teacha’ Hyde, felt his team underperformed this season.

    “We didn’t do well this season; we lost some players last year, so we are basically on a rebuilding process. We have some Under-16 players to look at to gel with these current players. So it is a rebuilding process but I think we played well today, we had possession, it is just that we are not scoring, hence we lost the game,” Hyde said.

    Saturday’s results

    Alphansus Davis 0, Garvey Maceo 0

    Kemps Hill 0, STETHS 2

    Clarendon College 1, Cornwall College 2

    Frome Technical 0, Munro College 0

    Ocho Rios 2, Dinthill Technical 2

    Happy Grove 0, Glenmuir 1

    Central High 2, McGrath 1

    Manchester High 2, Denbigh High 2

  • Milan boss Fonseca not scared of Real Madrid Milan boss Fonseca not scared of Real Madrid

    Paulo Fonseca downplayed the significance of next week's Champions League clash with Real Madrid following Milan's gritty 1-0 away win over Monza.

    Milan are seventh in Serie A following Saturday's win, which came courtesy of a Tijjani Reijnders header.

    The Rossoneri, who have been crowned champions of Europe on seven occasions, are 25th in the new-look Champions League standings, having taken three points from their opening three matches.

    But Fonseca did not think his team would be overawed at the prospect of facing 15-time European champions Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

    "I am always fired up for every game and do not think that Real Madrid is any more important than what we played tonight," Fonseca told Sky Sports Italia.

    "I strongly believe in teamwork. Nowadays, football is challenging; we need to function as a team at all times, and that’s what we’re striving to achieve."

    Speaking to DAZN, Fonseca added: "On Tuesday, we face Real, but it doesn't matter if it's Real Madrid or any other team; we need points to improve our position in the standings. I hope it will be a great night for all of us."

    While Monza dominated the first half, they could not find the margins to score. Milan rallied in the second half, with Fonseca acknowledging that the first-half performance was below par.

    "I was concerned in the first half as we weren’t aggressive enough and didn’t win enough individual duels, but I don’t really remember Monza's chances in the second half," Fonseca said.

    "We adjusted what we needed to do during the half-time break and it was a totally different game after that."

    Substitute Rafael Leao entered the match late and came close to scoring twice in the closing stages.

    "He came on well, it is important to have this reaction from Rafa and that's what I want to see. I think he is ready to play in Madrid," Fonseca said.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.