England star Jordan Pickford weighs in on Lee Carsley’s future after Greece loss | Football | sport

England’s shot-stopper Jordan Pickford has expressed his belief that interim manager Lee Carsley will be feeling the sting of the shocking Nations League defeat to Greece, but admits he’s uncertain about how the result will impact Carsley’s prospects of securing the job on a permanent basis.

Carsley’s hopes of taking over from Gareth Southgate were dealt a blow following England’s embarrassing 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley on Thursday.

Post-match, the ex-Republic of Ireland star remained tight-lipped over his desire to take the England role long-term, but his future may now hang in the balance after his gamble on an attacking starting eleven failed spectacularly.

With a defense left dangerously vulnerable, Carsley’s choice to play Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, and Anthony Gordon backfired as the Greek side, playing with heavy hearts after the passing of their team-mate George Baldock, seized their opportunity .

Greece emerged as deserving victors, with Vangelis Pavlidis netting a dramatic winner in stoppage time.

When quizzed on how this defeat could affect Carsley’s chances, Pickford responded: “I’m not the hierarchy.” He added: “It’s never nice for a player or staff to get beat at Wembley.

“We want to win every game we play when we put this shirt on and we didn’t. So we’ve got to keep going, dust ourselves down. What can we do better, what can we learn from and move on and get the result on Sunday?

“You’ve always got to learn. You’re never going to be perfect, even when you’re winning games. You can learn a lot from this. It’s about recovering well and getting ready for Sunday.”

England’s recent loss puts them in a tight spot in Group B2, trailing Greece by three points.

They now face the task of winning their next three fixtures, including Finland on Sunday, followed by an away match in Athens and then hosting Ireland at Wembley in November.

Pickford is hopeful that captain Harry Kane will make it back to the squad after being sidelined by a minor injury for the clash against Greece.

“He’s not the record goalscorer for England and has 100 caps for nothing, he leads by example,” the No.1 said. “I think Harry will be fit to go on Sunday.

“Now we’ve just got to go and win away on Sunday against Finland and then the next camp in Greece away and Ireland at home.”