CARLO TO PICKFORD: STOP OVERTHINKING IT

CARLO ANCELOTTI has told Jordan Pickford to trust his instincts and stop thinking too much about his goalkeeping.

The Everton manager confirmed he will restore the England No.1 to his team to face Manchester United today after axing the keeper for the visit to Newcastle last week.

But the Italian wants Pickford to concentrate on improving his game and not on the criticism and attention which has been swirling around him.

“He starts against Manchester United, yes,” the

Toffees boss said of

Pickford. “I have no message for

Jordan, I talked to him every day this week, we laughed and were together.

“He knows what to do on Saturday.

I think sometimes he did a mistake because he thought too much. When he has to act, sometimes he does mistakes in that situation, but he is still a young goalkeeper with a lot of quality and there he can improve.

“He has to use his instinct, which is really good. When he reacts instinctively, he is really top, top.”

The Toffees thumped United 4-0 in April 2019 (David de Gea and Chris Smalling, below) under Marco Silva, and Ancelotti will be hoping for a similar score.

He also wants Pickford to continue to be himself, despite criticism that he can wind himself up too much before matches. And

Ancelotti told the keeper he has to ignore all the noise that surrounds him from critics.

“His mentality is good. He is a good guy, a funny guy, I don’t want to change his mentality or character,” added Ancelotti, who is boosted by the return of James Rodriguez and Seamus Coleman.

“He is still a young goalkeeper with a lot of quality, character and personality. This is his character and it is difficult to change the character of people.

“On the pitch, he has to be focused on what he is doing, knowing his limit and also knowing where his quality is.

“I can judge him only on what he is doing in training, and the fact he is focused and concentrating in training means he isn’t affected by the rumours outside.

“It is important he is able, with his character and his personality, to manage the rumours outside.”

SITTING IT OUT Pickford was replaced with Robin Olsen for the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle