Aaron Ramsdale admits his lack of football at Arsenal is a ‘worry’ as he looks to make the England squad for next summer’s European Championship.
England confirmed qualification to next summer’s finals with room to spare after beating Italy this week and will enter the tournament among the favourites.
Ramsdale has been viewed as the leading competition for number one goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, but the Arsenal shot-stopper now faces a fight for his place at club level. Arsenal signed David Raya on loan from Brentford during the summer and the Spaniard has started each of the club’s last four league fixtures, keeping three clean sheets.
Ramsdale admits he must focus on regaining his Arsenal place to continue getting picked for England, but believes Gareth Southgate will trust the players he has worked with before.
“For me I need to get back into my club team to keep getting picked [for England] and keep giving the manager a headache because if I’m not, then that’s an easier decision for him,” Ramsdale said, as per Sky Sports.
“It is [a worry], it is the first time I have found myself in this situation. The [England] manager is brilliant, he trusts the players he’s worked with before as we’ve seen in different types of ways.
“You’ll see Kalvin [Phillips] and Harry [Maguire] haven’t played the most minutes but when they step up for England and are given the opportunity, they perform.”
Ramsdale insists his relationship with Raya is strong, despite the competition between them for a place in Mikel Arteta’s side.
“If we didn’t get on it wouldn’t work. We work professionally really well together,” he said.
“There’s days where I come in and I’m down because of the situation and he picks me up and for whatever reason there might be a day where he’s down and even though I’m suffering and hurting for not playing I have to stand up and be able to push him.”
