Philippe Clement insists Jack Butland won’t be disheartened by his England recall snub as he focuses his attentions on inspiring Rangers to further domestic glories this season.
The Ibrox number one missed out on a return to the national squad after Gareth Southgate omitted him from the group to face Brazil and Belgium in friendly fixtures this month. Southgate has selected Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone of Crystal Palace alongside first choice Jordan Pickford for the final warm-up matches ahead of Euro 2024 this summer.
Butland had been in contention for his first call-up in five years after a string of terrific performances for Rangers over the course of the campaign. The 31-year-old already has a League Cup medal to his credit this term and is now focused on the Premiership title and Scottish Cup after Clement’s side were eliminated from the Europa League by Benfica on Thursday evening. Butland has vowed to keep ‘knocking on the door’ of the England squad and Clement believes he has already proven a point by forcing himself into the conversation after a lengthy absence from the Three Lions setup.
“Surprised? I said from the beginning I will never interfere with what another manager needs to do out of selection because you don’t know all the details,” Clement said. “Jack was ready to be there so I think that proves that in England they have a lot of really good goalkeepers there. I spoke with Jack shortly [on Thursday] afternoon but it was not really necessary because he was focused on the game.
READ MORE: Clement explains what went wrong at Rangers corner, Benfica defeat and title
“Those are the things in life and he continues working hard for Rangers. Then other things can come, you create the possibility. I think the most positive thing is the last couple of weeks a lot of things are written about that for Jack to go to the England squad and I didn’t hear one person saying ‘ooft, that is a strange thing’. In that, he did prove already a lot. He will continue doing that in the next weeks.
“Yeah [it can still be a very special season for him] but I don’t like these talks about him. It is about us and everybody together. Jack is not busy with himself, he is busy with the team and is helping the team with his experience. That is our strength and what we will show in the next couple of weeks.”
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