Gareth Southgate faces a difficult decision in choosing between Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland as England’s first-choice goalkeeper for their World Cup campaign, according to Nigel Martyn.
Everton’s Pickford, Stoke’s Butland and Burnley’s Nick Pope all made Southgate’s 23-man squad with Tom Heaton on stand-by, and the manager has given Pickford the No 1 shirt after officially submitting England’s 23-man squad to FIFA.
Pickford played the full 90 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Nigeria to gain his third international cap, and Martyn feels the ‘keeper selected to play Thursday’s friendly against Costa Rica is likely to start England’s World Cup campaign.
“A really difficult decision isn’t it. I think it’s between him [Pickford] and Jack Butland really who gets the nod,” the former Crystal Palace and Leeds goalkeeper told Sky Sports News.
“Jordan had a really great season with Everton and was probably the shining light for them.