Jordan Pickford says he would volunteer to take a penalty for England at Euro 2024 if needed... but reveals Gareth Southgate has NOT had his stars practising spot-kicks

Jordan Pickford says he will put his hand up to take a penalty in a shootout for England this summer - but has revealed there has been no spot-kick practice so far.

First, says the goalkeeper, he and his team-mates must negotiate the group stage, which kicks off against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.

Pickford was the hero at Russia 2018 as England won a shootout for the first time at a World Cup when defeating Colombia in the last 16. 

He is also the only Three Lions keeper to score a penalty in a competitive shootout, when smashing the winner against Switzerland in the Nations League bronze-medal match in 2019. And the Everton stopper is ready to do it all again, if needed.

‘If called upon, I’m confident enough that I will take one,’ said Pickford. ‘I would step up for my country. But if you look throughout the squad, I think I’d be down the pecking order!’

Maybe not given the emphatic nature of his finish last time?

‘I know… took one, converted one,’ he laughed, before admitting there had not been talk of shootouts in the camp.

‘We haven’t gone into that detail yet, from a goalkeeping point of view. The lads who take penalties naturally for their club, they might be doing their own thing. I’ll be doing my homework tomorrow on the Serbia game. But the knockout stages, that will come later, because we have three big games ahead of us before we get to that.’

For now, Pickford will have his hands full at the other end of the park. Concerns remain around England’s defence going into the tournament, and it was put to Pickford that the backline was being billed in some quarters as a weak link, a claim he refuted.

‘Everyone is here because they’ve had a good season for their club and everyone has played for England before,’ he said. ‘We all know each other’s strengths - what we’re good at and what we need.

‘You say “defence”, it starts from the centre-forward all the way back. We need to work as a unit. I would say that is the key factor, working as a unit, instead of talking about the back four and the keeper.’

Pickford also believes the spine of England’s team – himself, John Stones, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane – will be the envy of their Euros rivals.

‘It’s not too bad, is it?’ he said. ‘If you look, Stonesy won the Champions League, the treble last year and won the Premier League four times in a row. Jude’s won the Champions League this year. Harry Kane scores goals for fun, England’s record goalscorer, and Declan has had a fantastic season at Arsenal. 

'So, the spine is crucial, but it’s more than the spine, it’s about the whole team and everyone is working together to be at our best.’