Watford striker Troy Deeney has told FourFourTwo he is hoping to emulate Jamie Vardy and earn an England call-up.
The 27-year-old frontman, who was scoring 12 League One goals for Walsall as recently as the 2008/09 season, has added a further 82 to his CV since signing for the Hornets in 2010, not to mention becoming the first player in Watford history to score 20 or more goals in three consecutive campaigns.
The best example of improving from a certain level is Jamie Vardy. People say he shouldn’t be in the England team, but he got there by playing well for a whole season with Leicester. He has kicked on massively
Deeney, born in Birmingham, has been offered the chance to represent the Jamaica national team on two separate occasions. But having seen Vardy go from firing Fleetwood Town to the Conference title in 2012 to leading the Premier League scoring chart and earning England honours a little over three years later, the Watford skipper is hopeful he can muscle his way into Roy Hodgson’s thoughts, too.
“I’m thinking about it [a call-up], although I’ve not earned it yet,” he says in the December 2015 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, which also hears from fellow Hornets striker Odion Ighalo about his peculiar path to the top flight.
“It’s not so close that I have to worry about it. I’m eligible for Jamaica and Ireland, but they haven’t said: ‘We really want you’ either. For me, the best example of improving from a certain level is Jamie Vardy. People say that he shouldn’t be in the England team, but he got there by playing really well for a whole season with Leicester, and he has kicked on massively.”
I’m big, I’m strong, I’ve got an eye for goal. And for a big guy, I cover a lot of distance. I don’t give people a chance to breathe
And with a place in the Three Lions’ squad at Euro 2016 potentially the reward for an impressive season, Deeney believes he has the attributes which can assist England in France.
“I’m big, I’m strong, I’ve got an eye for goal. And for a big guy, I cover a lot of distance,” he says.
“I don’t give people a chance to breathe. When defenders made mistakes down in the lower leagues, I could be quite ruthless. I didn’t score a goal in my first eight Premier League appearances [he netted in his 10th outing away at Stoke] but I got three assists. My aim is just to keep up with those standards.”
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Read the full interviews with Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo in the December 2015 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, available in print, on iPad and iPhone now, which features an exclusive interview with Robert Lewandowski and delves into the stories behind other iconic No.9s in football history. We also sit down One-on-One with Kevin Davies, chat to Thomas Vermaelen, find out why RB Leipzig are the ‘world’s most hated club’ and hear from overseas journalists on what it's like to cover English football focusing only on one player. Subscribe now!
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
