Shilton: Let’s look beyond Hart
ENGLAND’S most capped goalkeeper says Joe Hart is approaching his sell-by date and has urged manager Gareth Southgate to start one of Hart’s rising young rivals in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania.
Peter Shilton, who holds a record 125 England caps, has sympathy for Hart, 30, after his awkward spell at Manchester City.
But with Southgate’s team on the verge of qualification he believes England must start using the likes of Everton’s Jordan Pickford, 23, and 24year-old Jack Butland of Stoke to test their ability in competitive games.
England will confirm their place in Russia next summer if they beat Slovenia at Wembley on Thursday before rounding off qualification with a trip to Lithuania three days later.
Hart is likely to start in goal but the on-loan West Ham keeper, whose club career has taken a downward spiral after a one-year spell in Italy, had a miserable tournament at Euro 2016 and has been increasingly prone to errors of late.
Shilton said: ‘I’m not knocking Joe but at some point maybe somebody’s going to be a bit better than him.
‘Butland has not really had a chance to prove himself because of injury.
‘But I like him and until he and others get in the England team, you never know how they will handle the pressure.’