EBBSFLEET United’s Sam Magri will not be lining up against Eastleigh at Stonebridge Road on Saturday – he could be playing for Malta against England instead!

If picked to start, the 23-year-old Portsmouth-born defender could find himself marking Harry Kane in the World Cup Group F qualifier in Ta’Qali tomorrow evening (Friday, 7.45pm).

Magri represented England at youth level, playing alongside Raheem Sterling and Nathaniel Chalobah, but qualifies to play for Malta through his grandfather.

He has already faced Kane once in his career, playing in the FA Youth Cup for Portsmouth.

Released by Pompey after just one first-team appearance, he arrived at Ebbsfleet in June from Vanarama National League neighbours Dover Athletic.

He has played six games for Daryl McMahon’s top-flight newcomers who have started the season unbeaten since clinching promotion through the VNL South play-offs.

Although the Kent outfit have yet to lose, they haven’t won much either, drawing six out of seven league outings.

They hit back for a share of the points at Dover on Monday, after ex-Spitfire Ryan Bird had plunged them into arrears, extending their unbeaten league sequence to an impressive 30 games.

Classy former Spitfires midfielder Andy Drury has played a key part in that success, but was sidelined on Monday with a groin strain.

For Eastleigh’s assistant boss Andy Hessenthaler, Saturday will be more like a home fixture.

He was brought up in Gravesend and Ebbsfleet’s ground is just a 20-minute drive from his Rainham home.

As Gillingham manager, he often took teams to Stonebridge Road for pre-season friendlies and has nothing but admiration for what McMahon – a former Eastleigh skipper – has achieved.

“Daryl’s done a fantastic job there,” he said. “He’s got Ebbsfleet to where they wanted to be, back in the National League, and, like Eastleigh, they’ve got aspirations to get into the Football League.

"As much as I'm a Gravesend lad, I never played for Ebbsfleet (formerly Gravesend & Northfleet), but it will be nice to go there. There's a couple of players there I know. I signed Danny Kedwell, their centre-forward, for Gillingham.

“They’ve drawn six games and we’ve drawn four, so I’d imagine a betting man might go for a draw on Saturday!

“We probably weren’t at it on Monday (a 0-0 stalemate against ten-man Aldershot), but we didn’t get beat and we want to continue our run of three unbeaten."

Striker Ben Williamson (hamstring) and skipper Sam Togwell (thigh) will be assessed tomorrow after picking up injuries against the Shots. The same goes for goalkeeper Graham Stack, while Paul McCallum and Gavin Hoyte are not quite ready yet.