Jones will be crossing his fingers on Sunday night for his first senior Three Lions call when Capello unveils his squad for next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales. Twelve months ago, Jack Wilshere missed out on the September internationals. But Capello knew it was only a matter of time before the Arsenal midfielder gatecrashed the England party. And after watching Jones perform at the heart of United's defence in their Premier League win over Tottenham on Monday, the England coach feels the Three Lions have another rare talent on their hands. "Jones is a talent like Wilshere," said Capello. "He is the player who has played well at every level. He always wants the ball. "It is not easy to find a player who is so young that can play with so much confidence." Sir Alex Ferguson has already made the point that sometimes, young players perform to such a high level, they make it impossible for a manager to leave them out. England are fortunate in being blessed with a number of good central defenders. Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka and Michael Dawson have already caught the eye since the World Cup, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand have 149 caps between them. Yet Capello can see a day not too far from now where Jones is in the England team on merit. "He could do it," said the Italian. "We need to wait because so far he has played one Premier League game and some minutes at Wembley but potentially he is a fantastic player." As with Wilshere last season, the key is regular first-team football for his club. "He needs to play more games with Manchester United," said Capello. "I remember when Wilshere started to play with Arsenal. First he did well, then better, better, better and after four months he was at the top. I understood he was ready to play with the national team. "Jones is the same. We need to wait some games. For the friendly games that we play, if he is fit, if he is OK, I don't know if he will be OK for Montenegro or the next games. "But the talent is incredible. And when you find the talent, you need to use it." Capello has yet to decide how many of United's youngsters he will select this weekend. Danny Welbeck is a decent bet given he already has one international cap behind him, although the striker is facing competition from Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe and Andy Carroll as Wayne Rooney's partner. Tom Cleverley missed out on his debut when the friendly with Holland was called off earlier this month, although with Wilshere and Steven Gerrard ruled out through injury, the 22-year-old midfielder may retain his place. The bolter though would appear to be Chris Smalling, whose unexpected transition to full-back has caught Capello by surprise at a time when first choice Glen Johnson is also missing. "Sir Alex surprised me with what he did," said Capello. "He changed the team completely and the other one who is improving in a new position is Smalling. "He has improved a lot. He is also playing with confidence. When he goes forward he doesn't play with fear. "I remember him as a centre-back. Now he is right-back. He is a really interesting player in this position." The United contingent will help to bring a freshness to the England squad that was so badly lacking during the feeble 2010 World Cup campaign and Capello has also admitted to keeping an eye on Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong - who, like Welbeck, is also eligible for Ghana - and Tottenham's Jake Livermore, as well as Everton's Ross Barkley. At 22, Theo Walcott is another of Capello's youngsters, and also not scarred by the actual World Cup experience. However, in his recently-published autobiography, Walcott was critical of Capello's coaching methods, outlining why he might have been so unexpectedly jettisoned from the provisional England squad, describing the England coach as "cold and clinical" and stating the Italian threatened to "kill" him for making a run into the box during training. "It was a joke. He didn't understand," laughed Capello, before adding rather more seriously. "When I speak with the players at the start of the season, I always say this: 'My rule is that I am the manager, you are the player. You need to respect all the staff that are working with me'. "I was speaking with Arsene (Wenger) in Italy this week. Theo came to me. I said I prefer you as a player than a writer."
