Smith's Praise For 'Thriving' Vardy

- Former Leicester City striker Alan Smith delighted to see Jamie Vardy involved with England 

- Smith himself rose from playing non-league football to representing the Three Lions 

- The Sky Sports commentator urged Vardy not to lose his aggression 

- Smith was speaking during last week’s Friday Interview with Foxes Player HD 

Leicester City legend Alan Smith has urged Jamie Vardy not to lose any of his aggression as he prepares for international duty with England in the coming days. 

The former Leicester City and Arsenal man enjoyed a similarly rapid rise from non-league with Alvechurch to top-flight during his own career – which ultimately saw him play for England too. 

Smith scored 84 goals for the Foxes during a five-year spell and was delighted to see Vardy’s fine form in the Barclays Premier League rewarded with another call-up to Roy Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2016 qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania. 

Vardy made his debut for England against the Republic of Ireland this summer and followed that up with a first start against San Marino – the game that sealed England’s spot at Euro 2016. 

<div ><br /><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“It’s brilliant to see, I love it,” Smith told Foxes Player HD. “There aren’t too many stories like that for somebody like Jamie to come from where he has and now to be thriving in the top-flight. It’s brilliant. </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“He’s still got that rawness and aggression about him and you wouldn’t want to see him lose it. You wouldn’t want him, to become a sophisticated forward that will want it into feet and knock it about. </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“He really goes at players and gives it his all and chases down lost causes. I think that maybe comes from his non-league background where he’s really had to scrap to get to where he has and for him to play for England it’s magnificent.” </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Smith, who is now an accomplished commentator for Sky Sports among other media work, knows all too well just how it feels to have made that step up from non-league. </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Like Smith, Vardy was snapped up by Leicester when they were in the second tier and he soon helped them win promotion to the Premier League, where his goals caught the attention. </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“I remember I went to San Marino for Sky Sports and commentated on the game,” said Smith. “I felt sorry for him in a little way because it was a really poor pitch. It was cutting up underneath everybody and for Jamie trying to run with the ball, it wasn’t easy at all. </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“But I bet he was in dreamland to pull on the Three Lions [shirt]. It’s wonderful. It doesn’t happen so much now, maybe it should. Maybe the top-flight clubs don’t look down so much to non-league football maybe as much as they could do. There could be some lads that just don’t get a chance because of that. </div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“When you’re playing non-league you probably can’t ever see a time that you’re going to play for England. I played for the semi-pro team. I think when I played for the full team I became the first player ever to play for both. But then Steve Guppy of Leicester, he matched my feat. It must mean an awful lot to have come right up the ladder to the pinnacle.”</span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.player.lcfc.com" target="_blank"><img xlink:href="tcm:0-2692753" title="PlayerHD2015_Banner" alt="PlayerHD2015_Banner" style="width: 480px; height: 100px;" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>