And that might be a good thing with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both picking up injuries in the game against West Brom on Sunday.
Jones was a sub in the West Brom game that was called upon and he has played alongside Smalling before in England under 21 matches and he feels the success they had paired up then should stand them in good stead to do a job in United’s back line.
Asked how beneficial it is to have played alongside Smalling for England, Jones told the club's official website: "That will only help. We've done really well together with England and kept quite a few clean sheets.
"We communicate well and read each other's game, which is a good thing to have in a partnership at the back."