Jordan Pickford Confident After Retaining the Starting Place of England | Football News

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dismissed criticism over his recent form after keeping his starting spot for the first European qualifier on Friday against the Czech Republic.

After playing a leading role in the English race in the semifinal of the World Cup in Russia last summer, Pickford struggled to keep his form with Everton this season, including in a series seeded error in Newcastle earlier this month.

With Burnley goalie Tom Heaton in top form, it was suggested that Pickford could lose the number one shirt, but Southgate ended the race as Pickford joined him for Thursday's press conference.

"It's good for me," said Pickford. "I think that outside the Newcastle match, I'm in good shape.

"In the Newcastle match, I made a mistake and I pulled myself together against Chelsea, which shows my mentality and my character, and I think it was good for me.

"The manager trusted me to start tomorrow, so I trained well all week, so that's fine."

After backing up their achievements in Russia by reaching the first league finals in Portugal this summer, the Southgate team begins its last challenge at Wembley on Friday, before facing Montenegro on Monday.

Pickford insisted that England would not be distracted by any attempt to destabilize them after Czech striker Matej Vydra suggested visitors target Leicester defender Harry Maguire.

"No (I have not seen the comments)," said Pickford. "I think that as a team, we know how good we are and how we can win games.

"They can say things, but we need to focus on ourselves and understand these three points tomorrow – it all depends on us and not on their comments.

"It's been four months since we're not in England, and it's a pleasure to come back here and work with the manager and staff next week."