Tyrone Mings suspected he was the subject of a cruel prank when recently called up into the senior England squad.
The Aston Villa defended was drafted into the Three Lions set-up for the first time recently, and was given the news via text message by the national team's player liaison officer.
At first glance, however, the former non-league player did not believe the message to be genuine.
'I thought it was a prank when I first found out,' revealed Mings on his call-up, as report the Mirror.
'I got a text when I came in from training from the England player liaison officer Emily. I texted back saying, 'Oh s**t'. Excuse my language.
'She then called me and said, 'I'm not joking.' It was only when I spoke to her on the phone, I knew it was genuine.
'Obviously I am delighted. It has been a long journey to get to this point. Everyone has their own journey. There are people in the England squad that have come from non-league too.
'It probably makes it a little bit sweeter but every English player's dream is to be called up into the national squad. Hopefully I get a chance to play.'
Mings has worked his way up the football ladder, turning out in non-league with Yate Town and Chippenham Town before moving to Ipswich and the Bournemouth.
Following a loan spell with Aston Villa, the midlands club paid a fee rising to £26.5m during the summer to secure his services full-time.