England vs Bulgaria: Jordan Pickford claims Czech Republic defeat was a ‘blessing in disguise’

The Everton goalkeeper is looking on the positives after the Euro 2020 qualification setback

Jordan Pickford insists England‘s loss to Czech Republic is a “blessing in disguise”.

The defeat leaves the Three Lions level at the top of Group A in qualification for Euro 2020.

But the Everton goalkeeper is not worried and believes it could have a positive impact.

“This is a whole new experience for a few of the lads. We haven’t lost a qualifier in a decade, which is unbelievable," Pickford said. "Hopefully this is a blessing in disguise and we will bounce back in Bulgaria.

“First and foremost, it is horrible getting beat. Nobody likes getting beat but unfortunately we have. The good thing about football is that we can learn from this kind of defeat. You can mature.

“Sometimes it is not always nice, football. It’s about grinding out results. We knew that if we won, we would qualify. But we will learn. We will debrief it and go again in Bulgaria.

“I’d say disappointed was the word after the game. I’ve said it a few times here. We are all just so disappointed. We know as a group how much better we can be. You look around and you see the ability in the squad.

Pickford believes the loss could be a positive for England (Getty) (Getty Images)

“We just didn’t knuckle it down and transform what we had been doing in training into the game. We trained well as a group all week.

“It’s disappointing that we didn’t come away with a result – even a draw. I was busy but I was ready for it. Unfortunately we have conceded two and we didn’t get the result we wanted. We are disappointed as a group but we will go again on Monday in Bulgaria. We can still qualify.”