Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster has not been included in the England squad for their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifying fixtures.
The 31-year-old had been hoping his great form for the Bhoys would have been enough for a recall from Gareth Southgate, but the England boss has chosen to stick with Jordan Pickford, Tom Heaton and Nick Pope as his three options between the sticks.
Forster recently told The Scottish Sun of his national ambitions since rejoining Celtic.
“I’d like to play for England again but first and foremost I’m concentrating on trying to put in performances here.
“The rest is out of my hands. I will try to play as well as I can and see what happens.”
Many fans have been impressed by the on-loan Southampton shot-stopper’s recent form, most notably against Lazio in the Europa League at Celtic Park.
He made a number of crucial saves, including a last-minute wonder save that sealed the 2-1 victory and all three for the Hoops.
Many pundits have also said that Forster is deserving of his place, including Bhoys legend Kris Commons who said he should even be England’s number one over Pickford.
“Forster is the best keeper I ever played with and has this aura around him,” he told the Scottish Daily Mail (The Verdict, p20, 28/10).
“It’s like a ‘wow factor’ in the sense that some of his saves just take your breath away.
“On this form, he’s England’s best keeper by a country mile and, not only should he be back in Southgate’s next squad, he should be their No 1.”
TIF Tactics
Of England’s three goalkeepers they have called up (taking data from the Premier League’s official website), Tom Heaton is the only one of those selected who can be considered to be in good form for his club. Pickford’s made fewer errors than last season so far, but still conceded a large number of goals. As for Nick Pope, he’s not been particularly error-prone and his save ratio is decent, but again he’s conceded a lot of goals in the last few weeks.
If ever there was a time for Fraser Forster to have been recalled, it would have been now.