Blackburn Rovers’ Jermaine Jones wonders what might have been as he watches his parent club Schalke play Manchester United in the Champions League

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Blackburn Rovers on-loan midfielder Jermaine Jones has said that he has some regret leaving parent club Schalke to go to the Premie League strugglers.

Jones swapped Germany for England in an attempt to get away from manager Felix Magath, who was sacked in March following his side’s poor run of form in the league – they are currently 11th having lost 1-0 at home to Kaiserslautern at the weekend.

Under new boss Ralf Rangnick, Schalke have defeated holders Inter Milan and are now only two games away from reaching Wembley.

Jones has started 10 league matches for Blackburn since joining in January, but he admitted that sometimes he wonders what might have been as he watches his team mates succeed in club football’s biggest tournament.

“Sometimes I think about it – certainly when I watch games – I’ve a lot of friends in the team at Schalke,” Jones told The Sun.

“When they phone and tell me things like, ‘Yeah, we’re flying to Inter Milan to play Champions League’, it’s normal for me to think, ‘Ah hell, I could be playing in that’.

“But I made my decision as things weren’t good with the ex-coach.

“I played four games for Schalke in this competition this season.

“With one eye I look to Schalke and with the other I’m Blackburn.

“I want Blackburn to stay up but I’d love for Schalke to win the Champions League too. I’m not sure if I’d get a medal, I hope so.”

With Blackburn moving ever closer to the relegation zone, Jones is keen to hold talks with Rangnick in the summer to see if he still has a future at Schalke.

He added: “I think everything is open. I’ve my contract for three years at Schalke.

“I like Germany and to me it’s important to play Champions League or Europa League but I’ve enjoyed my time here too.”

Until then, the 29-year-old USA international is committed to helping out Rovers in their battle to stay in the Premier League.

On his side’s performances he said: “It’s hard to say what’s going wrong. When we play teams like Arsenal, where there’s no pressure, we play well.

“But then when we face sides like Birmingham or Blackpool, we feel a little more pressure.”