Sunderland AFC's Jordan Pickford, has stated that he is looking to "come back flying" on the international stage, having received his return call-up to the England Under-21's

Nice to get a couple of games

It has been whirlwind year for the young Washington-born goalkeeper, having established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper at the Stadium of Light and then moving to be included in the England senior side for the first time.

However, the 23-year-old has been out for some time with a knee injury, but has since made his return and reestablished himself in David Moyes' starting XI.

The keeper received a call-up for Aidy Boothroyd's side for the upcoming games against Germany and Denmark, and Pickford has stated he is looking forward to returning to the side.

“I haven’t been there for a while so it’ll be nice to get a couple of games,” Pickford told safc.com. “Hopefully we can get a couple of positive results and I can come back flying.”

“I want to go there," the goalkeeper stated to the club's website. "And then comeback and focus on the rest of the season with Sunderland."

"But it’s always a bonus when you go away with England," the 23-year-old admitted. "Like I said hopefully I can come back with some wins ahead of the Euros."

“As a whole group it [the international break] should help us," Pickford added. "Because the lads who don’t go away will get a good week of training, and maybe a couple of days to freshen up as well."

It will click

Pickford will face a very tough test when he returns to the North East, as Sunderland's chances of avoiding relegation continue to decrease.

The Black Cats currently sit bottom with seven points separating them and safety, concerns grew with the goalless draw against Burnley but Pickford stated that the side need to continue to work hard and the results will come.

“We’re just that little fraction away from getting the results that we need," Pickford said about Sunderland's survival push. "We’ve got to just concentrate on ourselves."

"Not look too much at the table," the keeper stated. "Just keep working hard and it will click."

“We had a few good chances missed but on the plus side," he said. "At least we’re creating those chances."

"We couldn’t convert them," Pickford concluded. "But we’ve got to keep strong and keep believing in ourselves.”

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.