Tottenham star Fraser Forster called up to England squad following Nick Pope injury
As per The Athletic, England manager Gareth Southgate has called up Tottenham goalie Fraser Forster to the national squad following an injury to Nick Pope.
Southgate’s picks for the goalkeeper spots have generally been set in stone with Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope the usual suspects. Dean Henderson has made the odd appearance now and then.
The manager has been forced to look elsewhere though with an untimely injury to Pope has turned to Forster. The 35-year-old has been a beneficiary of the regular game time he has received in the last few months due to Hugo Lloris’ injury.
To be fair to Forster, he has stepped up pretty well whenever Tottenham have needed him to and has played the role of a backup keeper to perfection. An England call-up can thus be considered well-deserved.
This ain’t the first time Forster is travelling with the Three Lions though. The veteran goalkeeper made his debut way back in 2013 when Roy Hodgson was the manager of the national team in an international friendly against Chile.
He has since then been a part of the squad many times but has a grand total of just six caps for his national team, the last of which came way back in 2016. He has been called up to the squad as recently as March last year though.
Forster’s call-up comes on the back of Antonio Conte’s glowing words about the player and this should no doubt do his confidence the world of good.
“For sure Fraser is playing very well. He’s showing to be a reliable player. He’s showing to be a really good guy. “I remembered him well from in the Champions League when we played Celtic with Juventus. He impressed me and the way to be a keeper”
However, it would be a huge surprise to see him get minutes for England due to the presence of Pickford and Ramsdale. Even if Southgate were to rotate, it’d probably be between the two aforementioned players. Forster would certainly be happy he is in the Three Lions squad though, after missing out on the initial team that was announced earlier this month. Pope’s misfortune has become his fortune.
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England have games against Italy and Ukraine as they look to kick-start their Euros 2024 qualification campaign on the right note. Forster will be hoping to impress should he get the chance but it’ll not be a surprise to see him warm the England benches and return to N17 once the break is over.
