Former England defender Phil Thompson believes Jordan Pickford should be Gareth Southgate's number one for this winter's World Cup in Qatar.
Everton No.1 Pickford has all but been Soutgate's go-to goalkeeper since the 2018 World Cup in Russia after he fought off competition from Burnley's Nick Pope.
The 28-year-old played a major part in helping the Three Lions to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time since 1990 and then impressed as they reached the final of Euro 2020 last summer.
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Pickford has also been in good form for Everton for some time, too. However, any mistakes he has made have led to some pundits to state that Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale should take over as England's first-choice keeper.
But Thompson believes Pickford deserves to keep his spot for another major tournament Speaking to Paddy Power, the former Liverpool captain said: “Jordan Pickford should start for England at the World Cup.
"I am with the brigade that thinks he’s not done a lot wrong with England, a few mistakes with Everton, but, in general, he has been fine.
“(John) Stones and (Harry) Maguire would be my go-to centre-back partnership with Luke Shaw at left-back. I think if he’s fully fit, he’s got to be in there. He’s an offensive player. In order to get more out of the forwards, I’d go with Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back. He would help the others get the goals that we need.
"I would go quite adventurous in midfield and would go for people like Phil Foden and Jack Grealish on either side of Declan Rice.0
“Obviously, Harry Kane would be upfront and I still think Raheem Sterling has that extra pace you’re looking for. I actually quite liked Jarrod Bowen, I thought he brought pace and had an eye for goal.
“So you’d say that’s very offensive – 4-3-3 – but in a lot of the World Cup games, we’ve got the USA, Iran, and Wales. We’re going to have a lot of the ball, and if this team can get a grip of games, we need to back ourselves to score more goals than the opposition.”
Southgate's men failed to meet the expectation levels they have been accustomed to over the course of his tenure during the latest round of Nations League matches earlier this month.
England failed to win any of their four encounters, which ended with an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to Hungary last week.
For that fixture, Southgate handed Ramsdale the chance to impress, although he was criticised for his role in a handful of the Hungary goals.
