Pickford desperate to represent England 'for as long as I can'

Jordan Pickford is determined to keep representing England for as long as possible as he prepares to add to his 68 international caps this week.

The Everton keeper has made the fifth-most appearances of any Three Lions stopper but is just eight caps away from jumping to second on that list, with David Seaman (75), Joe Hart (75) and Gordon Banks (73) within touching distance.

Pickford insists he does not worry too much about records but is aware of the numbers - and believes reaching 100 caps is possible.

He said: "The priority is to keep improving. Even though I'm one of the senior players I always want to get better. I've always had the mindset that I want to pull on an England shirt as many times as I can and I'll keep going as long as I can.

"To do that, I need to keep performing. To be England's number one for seven years is something that's a tough thing to do. I will never give it up lightly.

"It will be tough to catch Peter Shilton's record (125 caps) but it's great to be mentioned among those legends of the game.

"I'm at 68 now and if I can average 10 per year, with tournaments as well, then hopefully I can get to 100, all being well. But the main thing is to keep getting better and keep performing, then everything else falls into place."

Pickford has been handed every one of his caps by former manager Gareth Southgate and is now readying himself for a first appearance under new management in the form of interim head coach Lee Carsley.

There has also been a change in the goalkeeping coach department, with former coach Martyn Margetson replaced by Tim Dittmer.

Pickford said: "It's a change but change always happens in football. We had a hell of a ride with Gareth, Steve [Holland] and Marge over eight years.

"But I've worked with Tim Dittmer at Under-21s level. I obviously know the gaffer, who is a former Everton player.

"I played with Joleon [Lescott, interim coach], while Ashley [Cole, interim assistant] has over 100 England caps. I worked with him for a while at Everton too.

"So it's a really experienced staff and we can't wait to get going in Dublin on Saturday now."

The Three Lions take on Republic of Ireland on Saturday before hosting Finland at Wembley next Tuesday in the Nations League.