KEEPER POPE OUT TO NICK PICK’S SHIRT

NICK POPE will get two more chances to stake his claim to be England’s No.1 at this summer’s Euros.

Boss Gareth Southgate plans to give the Burnley keeper the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Poland to impress after he did not have a meaningful save to make against San Marino.

This is Pope’s big opportunity, with England’s first-choice keeper Jordan Pickford (above) out injured.

Southgate has backed the Everton man even through his dips in form, but Pope (above) now has a major opportunity in his hands. “Nick was always going to play the next games,” said Southgate. “He has been really patient for his opportunity and he has performed consistently at a high level every week for his club and he has been with us for a very long time waiting for this moment. “He is a very calm character and I really like his personality. We obviously knew he was not going to be overworked against San Marino but I am sure that will be different in the next two games.”

Southgate admitted that he was happy to rest players in that opening qualifier in order to keep them fresh for the more demanding fixtures.

He will definitely revert to a back three against Poland, with the likes of Declan

Rice, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire set to return.

Southgate added: “There was the opportunity to get players onto the field to give them experience.

“There was also a chance to keep the squad generally fresh – some of those players we took off had had a heavy load of games.”