Curtis Jones reflects on 'amazing' England debut after being called out by Jude Bellingham

England midfielder admitted that he was keen to make an impression on his international debut, and by the star.

Jones was already enjoying a brilliant debut in England's midfield, but to mark the memorable occasion. Jones showed his class with a neat backheel finish after being found inside the area by Morgan Gibbs-White.

"Yeah, I tried. The lads around helped as well," Jones told ITV Football when being asked if he wanted to leave his mark on . "I just went out there, I was playing free, and I had a smile on my face and was enjoying it.

"I'm happy I came away with a goal as well. If you've got a team like ours, I can go higher, I can come low, I can get on the ball and I can play. There is lads there to help. Jude stayed back so I've seen I had a chance to go and I did. Lucky enough I scored."

It was England's largest win in this Nations League campaign, and a needed victory over Greece after the visitors stunned the Three Lions with a 2-1 win away at Wembley on Oct. 10. England is now top of Group F with one final game against Ireland on Nov. 17, and they made it there without some key players.

Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jack Grealish, and Phil Foden all withdrew from the squad due to injury concerns, but were called out by England captain Harry Kane. "It's a shame this week, obviously," he said.

"It's a tough period of the season and maybe that's been taken advantage of a little bit. I don't really like it if I'm totally honest. England comes before anything and any club situation."

But those who did play made it count, according to Bellingham, who is excited about England's young stars and was impressed with Jones in particular. "A lot was made of the lads that weren't here, but I think the lads that were here who showed up were amazing," Bellingham told ITV Football.

"Curt making his debut, scoring, playing as he did. Amazing, I'm really proud of the boys tonight. It would've been a million and one excuses if we didn't play well or didn't get over the line, but the lads went out and did their business so professionally. Back to the top I think of the group. Where we belong.

"It's a young team, we're all playing well for our clubs, we're all exciting players who want to get on the ball and be creative. Even when we lost the ball, we carried on doing it."