ROSE RACE FEAR RETHINK

also on June 27, Pickford – despite saving one spot-kick – was the keeper as England were beaten in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final of the European Under-21 Championship

He said: “I’ve had a couple of bad experiences in football and that’s how you become better as a person and as a player.

“Last year we got knocked out at the semis against Germany in a game that we should have won because we battered them all game. But I took that experience and learned from it.”

If England’s tournament history over the last three decades is anything to go by, there is a fair chance Pickford might have to face another dramatic shoot-out come the knockout phase.

If that is the case, he will certainly have had high-level practice, having to keep out

Harry Kane’s hits from 12 yards in training every day.

“Harry practises in every session,” said Pickford. “And when he is finishing like that [the Panama match], you’ve got no chance. They’re pretty much unsaveable. You’ve certainly got to do a lot of guessing if you are going to save one. I was watching from the other end on Sunday and his two penalties were top-drawer.”

If the noises coming out of the Belgian camp are to be believed, Pickford might not have too much work to do in Kaliningrad tomorrow night. It certainly does not sound as though Belgium will be going all out for the victory that would see them top Group G.

Unlike England, says Pickford. “Our mentality is to win every game. If we do that, it keeps momentum,” declared the player who was dreaming of these type of moments as a child.

“I’ve worked hard to be a goalkeeper – certainly since I was six years old, playing with my brother in the street. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be,” he said.

“Now I will keep working hard. I want to win every game.”

Including this one against Belgium, even though it might mean England’s route through the knockout stages will look tougher.

“It does not matter,” he said.

Pickford can be on the ball tomorrow and not suffer like (right) in the U21s semi – while it was hell against Iceland and Germany DANNY ROSE is ready to change his mind about Russian racism and fly his family to the World Cup. He had not wanted them to...