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Pickford relishing Wales clash
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is savouring the prospect of facing Wales in Tuesday’s World Cup clash.
The home nations go head-to-head with Gareth Southgate’s Group B leaders in control of their destiny on four points and Rob Page’s men on the brink of heading home after picking up a draw and a defeat in their two matches in Qatar.
Both teams have drawn with United States so far but while the Three Lions beat Iran 6-2, the Dragons slipped to a disappointing 2-0 loss to Carlos Queiroz’s outfit.
England and Everton stopper Pickford, 28, is relishing a derby-like atmosphere inside the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium tomorrow but warned his side not to underestimate their wounded opponents.
He said: “They’re another good side, they’ll be disappointed, they’ve got one point so they’ll be pushing towards Tuesday, but so are we.
“I know Wales are going to be a tough task but we’ve got to be ready for it and have our game plan to go and win the game.
“We’re in control of the group and we’ll go again, get ready, get prepared, 100% and go again Tuesday.
“It’s tournament football. Getting a clean sheet in the second game after winning the first game is massive.
“We go into Tuesday against Wales, another tough game, but a game we should be in control of and hopefully get the win.”
Wales need ‘performance of their lives’
Joe Allen has called for Wales to give the “performance of their lives” against England.
Wales must beat England and hope Iran and USA draw in the other clash but Allen is not overawed by the unlikely odds.
The Swansea midfielder, 32, said: “I think everyone is hurting because of the situation we find ourselves in and the disappointment of the result [losing 2-0 to Iran] and only having one point after two games.
“That’s the hurt at the moment. It’s a feeling of missed opportunity in the first two games.
“We’ve had the time needed to digest that disappointment.
“Our focus now moves on to getting on the training pitch, putting in the work and preparing for the performance of our lives against England.”
Heading banned around matchdays in Scotland
Professional footballers in Scotland are to be banned from heading the ball in training the day before and after a game.
Clubs are also being told to limit exercises that involve repetitive heading to once a week.
The new guidelines come after research from Glasgow University showed footballers are three-and-a-half times more likely to die from brain disease.
It is believed that repetitive heading could be a key factor in this.
