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Jordan Pickford faces ongoing England No.1 battle after Thomas Tuchel talks

England goal keeper Jordan Pickford.
England goal keeper Jordan Pickford.Profimedia

England boss Thomas Tuchel will no longer employ Jordan Pickford as his unchallenged No.1.

The Three Lions wrap up their UEFA Nations League campaign at home to Croatia on November 12 before a trip to Madrid three days later.

As part of his plans for the incoming matches, the German coach is considering replicating his controversial goalkeeper plan from the previous window, as per The Athletic.

In the the last camp, he gave his two goalkeepers - Pickford and James Trafford - two games each, as a sign of the new competition for a starting spot.

"Pickford is No.1, but nothing's changed," Tuchel stated at his squad announcement.

"The competition is there, like for the outfield players. They shared the matches last time. I’m not sure what we'll do. There’s an opportunity we may do that again. I have to speak with our goalkeeper coach.

"When do I have a chance to see another goalkeeper, if not in Nations League?

"If not in high pressure matches? So we had James against Spain. Because what happens if Jordan is injured? What happens if he’s not available? So it’s better to test it. 

"Jordan knows this, that we want to use Nations League for exactly that. At the moment, he's No.1. He just feels a bit of competition. Which is good for him.

"I was very impressed and a bit surprised by his reaction when I spoke to him. He totally understands. He impressed me a lot last time.

“He said ‘yeah, let’s do this, Traff deserves it, and I'll push him’. It was a positive, he pushed Traff, he gave him a good feeling."

Trafford started at home to Spain, and away against the Czech Republic last time out, with Pickford recalled for Croatia away and Czechs at home.

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