ACCRINGTON Stanley goalkeeper Jon Kennedy has revealed his shock and delight at being called up to the England National Game XI squad.

But the surprise wasn't so much the fact he had been picked - more the timing of his selection.

"I was a little disappointed not to be in the squad the last time round but to get picked now is great," said Kennedy, who will be joined in manager Paul Fairclough's squad to face Italy's under 23s by team-mate Peter Cavanagh.

"Before the last international I'd played around 20 games so I thought I'd have had more of a case to be called into the squad then.

"Now I've only been back in the side for three games and managed to get selected. But I'm not complaining. It will be good to be involved."

The match against Italy will be played at the New Bucks Head Stadium on February 11 - the home of a team which haunted Kennedy in November.

"I don't like to mention Telford," said the former Sunderland stopper, who was in goal when Stanley were beaten by the Bucks 5-1 at home.

But Kennedy accepts that goalkeepers have to, as he says, "live and die" by their decisions and that heavy defeat is now something he's put down to experience.

"If every time you play you worry about making a save there's no point even going on the pitch," he said.

"You can play well for 89 minutes then make one error of judgement which costs your team the game, but that's the nature of goalkeeping.

"As soon as the game against Telford finished I thought about all the things I should have done. But you can't dwell on it for too long because it eats away at you."

Kennedy was dropped soon after the Telford game, being replaced by Jamie Speare.

And hot competition has developed between the two stoppers.

But Kennedy insists that can only be a good thing.

"There aren't many clubs in the Conference that have two keepers who are capable of playing in the first team," he said.

"But we have cover in every position, which is great for the team."

Peter Cavanagh will serve a five match ban after accumulating three red cards this season. However, the Reds captain will not miss out on another chance to be selected for the National XI first team as domestic suspensions do not affect selection.