For years the Jordan Pickford baiters and haters have been peddling their tripe about how he is supposedly not good enough to be England number one. But now that the Everton hero has helped the Three Lions to become the first European nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup on the back of a record-breaking run of clean sheets, they’re forced to change their skewed narrative.

The Blues ace eclipsed Gordon Banks’ 59-year-old record set en route to lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1966 when he kept an eighth consecutive clean sheet for England in the 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wembley last Thursday.

Having followed that up with another one as he won his 80th cap in Riga, helping his country to a 5-0 win over Latvia to clinch their place in next summer’s finals, even the most dyed-in-the-wool Pickford bashers ran out of their spurious amnunition.

So, with a change of tack required, because few beyond...