KENWYNE Jones has bad news for defenders all over Europe... his giant leap is getting even higher.
It was with a trademark towering jump against Dynamo Kiev last Thursday evening that the 27-year-old netted his sixth goal of the season – all of them headers.
That healthy return, progress in the Europa League and an away win at Everton has enabled the striker to walk around with an extra spring in his step this week.
And Jones, once famously described by John Terry as the best header of a ball in the Premier League, reckons there is plenty more to come.
"I would like to be scoring from 30 yards every week, but heading is where the goals come from," he said.
"With Jermaine Pennant and Matty Etherington playing well it's great for strikers and I've always been able to jump quite high. If anything my bounce is getting better.
"I don't really realise how high I am at the time, if it's a big jump I wouldn't know until I had seen it on TV.
"To me, it feels like I'm only jumping six inches off the ground. The Europa League has been fantastic and that win at Everton was great.
"We've a lot going for us at the club at the moment. It's a good place to be."
The origins of Jones's mammoth jump can be traced back to his school days in Trinidad and Tobago, where his uncle, Philbert Jones, was an international football star.
Uncle Philbert helped the Caribbean country to within a point of qualifying for the 1990 World Cup – and passed on his own stupendous back flip goal celebration to his nephew.
Jones was at St Werburgh's Primary School, Kingsley yesterday as part of the Potters' Co-Operative Bank Football Roadshow, telling children how they might replicate his gymnastic dexterity.
"You have to be fearless," he told an awestruck group of pupils.
The former Sunderland man admitted he had the same reaction when he was at that age and Dwight Yorke would pay the occasional visit to his school.
He said: "My uncle and my dad (Pamphile) were my heroes as a boy. They both were both famous for playing football in Trinidad and I looked up to them.
"I was at talent college for sport from when I was young and Dwight Yorke used to come in and see the youth teams. It was great to see the stars.
"I never look at myself in that way, I'd never consider myself a star. I'm just really lucky to be doing what I'm doing."
But, despite the broad grin on his face, he admitted nothing could prepare him for a brisk December afternoon in the windy Staffordshire Moorlands.
"Let's get inside," he near-screamed after finishing posing for photographs, beating the children in a rush to get inside the school hall, laughing and shivering as he went.
St Werburgh's assistant headteacher Alex Brayford was thrilled by the guest addition to the school's skills session.
He said: "All the children were absolutely made up to see Kenwyne. It's been a terrific day."