Former Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Nick Pope has an outside chance of making Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia next year with the player putting in some hugely impressive performances for current club Burnley.
The 25-year-old Soham born stopper spent five years at The Valley where he made his senior breakthrough following several loan spells away from the club.
Pope represented the likes of Cambridge United, Aldershot Town, York City and Bury before going on to become a first team regular with The Addicks.
In summer 2016, the keeper joined English Premier League club Burnley for an undisclosed fee and having been used in domestic cup competitions last season by The Clarets, injury to first choice keeper Tom Heaton has handed Pope an opportunity to impress in the league this term.
Pope has took that chance with both hands and the keeper has been in fine form, conceding just one goal in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield last month and keeping clean sheets in the other three league outings.
It has been widely reported that Pope’s match stats are some of the most impressive in the English Premier League. The Burnley stopper ranks only below Manchester United’s David de Gea and Manchester City’s Ederson in terms of minutes between goals conceded according to the Burnley Express and those stats will not go unnoticed by England manager Southgate.
Pope never played for The Three Lions at youth level and was a relatively late developer in the game but England will surely come calling for the player should he continue to perform well, whether that it before the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia remains to be seen.
