England boss Gareth Southgate could turn to goalkeeper he dropped six years ago amid selection crisis before Euro 2024

While Everton's Jordan Pickford is fit and available for England, Southgate admits the situation with the injured Newcastle United stopper Nick Pope and the lack of game time for Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale and Crystal Palace's Sam Johnstone is not ideal. Therefore, Rangers stopper Butland could come into contention ahead of this summer's European Championships after being dropped by Southgate six years ago.

The Three Lions boss admitted: "It [the goalkeeper shortage] is an issue for us and the situation is up in the air. We have to make sure we’re watching everybody. Jack [Butland] is included in that because he’s playing at a big club and is an experienced goalkeeper. It’s not an ideal situation with Aaron [Ramsdale] not playing, Sam [Johnstone] at the moment not playing and Nick [Pope] injured. We’ll have to see how that plays out."

Pickford has been England's first-choice keeper for years but the situation behind him could give Butland a chance to swoop in and be part of the Three Lions' Euro 2024 squad. The 30-year-old has been in impressive form since joining Rangers on a free transfer last summer and if he is selected for the national squad ahead of next month's friendlies with Brazil and Belgium, Butland could be back in the big time.

England face Brazil on March 23 and then Belgium three days later, before warming up for Euro 2024 with games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland in early June. It remains to be seen if Butland will be involved in these games but his form of 19 clean sheets this season cannot hurt his chances.