Ebbsfleet United defender Sam Magri could be faced with the task of keeping the likes of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Leigh Griffths quiet in September as the summer signing from Dover Athletic has been called into the Maltese national squad.

Magri, 23, has been requested for international duty from Sunday, 27 August to Tuesday, 5 September, after a letter was received from the Malta FA by the club this week. That time period covers Malta’s two World Cup 2018 qualifiers at home to England in the Ta’ Qali National Stadium on 1 September and then at Hampden Park against Scotland on 4 September.

Magri, a former England youth player at U16–U19 level, won his first cap for Malta against Slovenia last November and has since played against Iceland, Slovakia, Ukraine and Slovenia again. He qualified for the Malta national side through his grandfather.

Magri’s time away with the Maltese side would see him miss the games away at his former club Dover, plus the home clash against Eastleigh.