Pickford confident should he have to help England in penalty shoot-out

Pickford is set to retain his place in Gareth Southgate's line up for Saturday's quarter-final clash against France and is hoping he can continue his run of shut-outs.

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The Everton no.1 has not conceded since Iran scored two second-half goals in England's opening group game.

The last player to have found a way past Pickford was Mehdi Teremi who slotted home a late penalty for Iran.

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Teremi's well-taken spot kick was one of the better ones at a World Cup that has seen some poorly taken efforts.

It's fair to say that Pickford hasn't been too impressed by the standard of penalties on show in Qatar and he gave his thoughts on whether England can rise to the challenge if faced with the challenge.

"It's a pressure situation you know and some penalties - you see the Morocco vs Spain [shoot-out] it felt like the keeper made three great saves in the shootout," Pickford told talkSPORT.

"It's a skill in a pressure situation that you've got to execute and it's something we're confident of doing if it gets to the penalty shoot-out stage.

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Pickford is confident that he can be England's saviour should he be faced with the prospect of spot kicks and the 28-year-old gave some insight into his approach during the moments before facing one.

When asked if the key to outwitting the penalty taker is based on instinct or analysis, Pickford explained: "I think it's a bit of both, sometimes you get a bit of a feeling of I fancy him going this side so I'm gonna go that side.

"It's about picking a side and executing your dive really. You've just got to go full throttle at your dive and cover the goal really. it 's something I've been practicing and I feel like I'm gonna nail it if it comes to it."

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