Alex Smithies set for England U-19 Euro call-up

Jun 26 2009 By Doug Thomson

“Alex being involved would take him out of the equation for a number of friendlies, but we have Matt Glennon and Simon Eastwood, who will both be keen to stake their claim for the first-team shirt, while Alex would still be training and, hopefully, playing.

“International call-ups are a big thing for any player, and they also reflect well on the club and in particular, our goalkeeping coach John Vaughan, who puts in a huge amount of work with Alex, Matt and Simon.

“Being in an international environment is also excellent in terms of learning and gaining experience, and we’d very much like Alex to make the squad.

“He’s certainly good enough, and everyone at this club would be thrilled if he could then step up to Under 21 level and eventually the full team.”

Huddersfield-born Smithies, who is contracted to Town through to 2013, missed out on the championship qualifiers in May and early June because of a shoulder injury.