Gareth Southgate has no shortage of issues to resolve ahead of this summer's World Cup in Russia but one of the most pressing is who his starting goalkeeper should be.

Nick Pope, Joe Hart and Jack Butland each have plus points and black marks next to their names and so it was Jordan Pickford who got the nod for Friday's 1-0 victory over Holland in Amsterdam.

The England boss hinted that one area that might give the Everton stopper the edge in the hotly contested battle for the number one jersey is his distribution.

https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/england-onecap.mp4

If Friday's match was Pickford's opportunity to show that then he certainly did not lack confidence in his own ability to so, as England grew in confidence and dominated proceedings as the game wore on.

He played the ball long 18 times, but made 33 passes overall as he showcased both his ability to ping accurate passes over a distance into the channels but also his calmness in possession to keep the ball in circulation.

His dribble, coming in the second half, just showed his confidence in his own ability. That is something that Southgate is trying to instill into the whole team and if it starts with the goalkeeper then England will be all the better for that.

Jack Butland will get the nod against Italy on Tuesday night at Wembley but Pickford can watch on, safe in the knowledge that he showed no sign of nerves on what could be described as something of a World Cup audition.

The Everton man - valued at £18m by Transfermarkt - staked his claim confidently.