Burnley’s Nick Pope ‘fighting hard’ to displace England’s number one Jordan Pickford

Burnley keeper Nick Pope accepts Jordan Pickford has earned the right to be considered England’s number one.
Nick Pope and Jordan PickfordNick Pope and Jordan Pickford
Nick Pope and Jordan Pickford

But he is “fighting hard” to try and win the jersey.

Pope will start the friendly against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Thursday night, after collecting his third cap last month, in another warm up game against Wales.

Then, Pickford came in for the Nations League games against Belgium and Denmark, and the Everton keeper is likely to do so again, in Belgium and against Iceland at Wembley.

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Gareth Southgate, when asked about the competition in goal, said last week after announcing the squad: “When people say I’ve been loyal to him (Pickford), he has deserved that, his performances have been excellent for us.

“That’s not been a difficult decision for me.

“We have some competition for places, but I’d have to say there’s nobody I think is challenging seriously at the moment to push him out of that position.”

Pope himself understands why Pickford is in pole position, after his impressive showing at the World Cup in 2018, although his form has come in for criticism from Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti, with the player seeing a run of 120-successive Premier League starts come to an end at Newcastle recently.

Pope said: “I think it’s fair to say he’s number one at the minute.

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“If you look at the last 25-30 fixtures, he’s played probably 28 of them, so a person with that sort of record for the national team deserves to be called number one.

“He’s earned it, it’s not happened over night, it’s happened over two or three years consistently playing for your country, so I think it’s fair to say he’s number one at the minute - not to say that doesn’t change whenever the time may be.

“For a goalkeeper, you’ve got to keep working, like any player does, earn the right to be in the squad and fighting hard to make your way into the team.”