Everton and England are working together to manage Jordan Pickford's injury with physios on both sides focused on getting the best from him in the run up to the World Cup.
The 28-year-old suffered a thigh injury in the Merseyside derby and will miss Everton's Premier League game against West Ham United on Sunday. He will also miss England’s Nations League double header against Italy and Germany later this month.
Frank Lampard said he is hopeful the player, who has worn the captain’s armband in every league game this season, will be back for the Blues’ trip to Southampton on October 1. But he stressed he would not risk the keeper should there be any doubts about his fitness going into that game.
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Pickford was outstanding against Liverpool earlier this month, pulling off a series of stunning saves in the goalless draw. During that performance he suffered a quad injury expected to take several weeks to overcome. The postponement of Everton’s trip to Arsenal last weekend means two of those weeks have already passed but his absence will continue, at least until the end of this month.
Speaking ahead of the home tie with West Ham, Lampard revealed specialists from the England side were in touch with Everton over his recovery - which Pickford is eager to complete as soon as possible. He said: “I will be honest – Jordan would go and play on one quad for England in a friendly next week. We have to be sure that we do the right thing. I have spoken to Gareth [Southgate, England manager] about it and our physios and England’s physios are in conjunction together, talking about it to make sure we do the right thing for Jordan. And the right thing for Jordan is the right thing for Everton and England.
“We just have to rehab it well. Hopefully it will be in the next two or three weeks and he will be back, it’s as simple as that. We wouldn’t take any risks with him. If we did, it would affect our batch of games up to the winter break. If you were to re-injure the quad, it would obviously affect his run up to the World Cup. So we are being very careful with that. We are working with Jordan and England.”
Talks are continuing over a new contract for the keeper, who played a key role during Everton’s fight against relegation last season. Lampard said there was no issue in the negotiations and “there is a real desire on both sides to get the right conclusion to this”.
At present, Pickford’s recovery is the dominant focus and Lampard said his number one is desperate to get back to full fitness. He said: “ He is keen, he is really keen. I learnt as a player the negatives of that. I re-injured my quad a few times, trying to push my physio to get me back quicker. I’m now more experienced, so I can be on the other hand and make sure he does it in the right way. The experts are the physios. He’s keen but he is very mature. He wants to play but we will find the right way.”
One player on the brink of a first team return is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is set to feature in the squad for West Ham after a knee injury ruled him out of the start of the season. The 25-year-old’s recent struggles with injury have left him with a battle to force his way into England’s World Cup plans. Lampard said the striker had not come up in his conversations with Southgate about Pickford but added the first step in Calvert-Lewin’s international ambitions would be getting on the pitch for Everton and showcasing his undoubted ability.
He said: “He just has to concentrate on being fit for us, doesn’t he? He’s been in an England squad before. We know what he can do, Gareth knows what he can do, I think the first part of it is get him playing well for us and the rest will come from there.”
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