David Seaman backed Aaron Ramsdale to become England’s number one this week, as an injury to Nick Pope led to a shake-up in Gareth Southgate’s squad.

There were no surprises in goal in Gareth Southgate’s England squad earlier this week, with Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, and Aaron Ramsdale all called up over the break.

Pickford seemingly remains Southgate’s number-one choice to start the big England matches, but Ramsdale’s chances of acting as the main alternative received a boost with the news that Pope had pulled out with an injury.

All the same, it’s likely that Pickford will be in goal against Italy and Ukraine next week, as England kick off their European Championship qualification campaign.

Pickford has cemented himself with Southgate through a few long tournament runs, and it won’t be easy to displace him. But former Arsenal and England goalkeeper David Seaman thinks Ramsdale will get there eventually.

“He’s got a great chance [to become England’s number one],” Seaman said.

“Getting a lot of criticism when he came to Arsenal is actually what happened to me, everybody didn’t want me here.

“That’s exactly what I went through, but Aaron has shown exactly what kind of character he’s got and showing his ability. It’s a waiting game, he’s only 24, he’s got to wait for Jordan to make a few mistakes.”

It certainly does look like it’s going to be a waiting game for Ramsdale.

At some point, Pickford is going to make a major error or pick up an injury, and if the Arsenal goalkeeper is ready to pounce, he could nail down the position.

Ramsdale already has the advantage of playing for one of the top teams in the Premier League, as opposed to relegation-scrapping Everton, and from next season he should be playing in the Champions League against some of Europe’s best.

In all probability, that won’t be the case for Pickford. The longer that goes on, the more attractive a switch to the Arsenal man should start to look to Southgate.