Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Jordan Pickford remains England’s number one but suggested he may again split game time with understudy James Trafford this week.

The Everton goalkeeper has been one of the first names on the team sheet ever since Sir Gareth Southgate made him first choice heading into the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Pickford has played a key role in every tournament since but found himself in the unusual position of watching from bench at the start of England’s first meet-up since the World Cup.

The 93-cap keeper only played in half of the four-game autumn camp as Tuchel decided to start up-and-coming Leeds player Trafford in the first two fixtures.

Asked if Pickford was no longer number one, Tuchel said: “No, he is. But nothing has changed. The competition is on there as well, like for the outfield players.

“Traff gets regular starts now, that’s what we wanted. James Trafford did well. They shared the matches last time.

“I’m not sure what we will do. There’s an opportunity that we maybe do this again.

“I have to speak with our goalkeeper coach. But the goalkeepers, they are a bit of a unit for themselves, and rightly so.”

Tuchel has two more Nations League matches to round off a hectic year, with Thursday’s Wembley clash against Croatia followed by a trip to World Cup winners Spain on Sunday.

“It’s slightly different (to outfield players), but when do I have a chance to see another goalkeeper, if not in Nations League? If not in high-pressure matches?” the head coach asked.

“So, we had James against Spain, we asked ourselves, ‘Is this fair for James Trafford to straightaway go against Spain?’.

“But I think it’s exactly what we need because what happens if Jordan Pickford is injured? What happens if he’s not available?

“So, it’s better to test it. Jordan knows about this. That we want to use Nations League for exactly that.

“But at the moment, nothing has changed. At the moment, he’s the number one and he just feels a bit of competition, which is good for him.”

Not only is it pushing Pickford but, Tuchel says, has shown the 32-year-old’s quality of character.

“I was very impressed and a bit surprised by his reaction when we spoke to him,” the England boss added.

“I thought he’d be less of a fan than he proved to be because he said he totally understands it.

“He impressed me a lot last time. We spoke to him, it was a very short conversation. It was very positive.

“He said, ‘Yeah, let’s do this, Traff deserves it and I will push him’. And he didn’t change at all.

“If he changed, he changed even to the positive, he pushed Traff, he gave him a good feeling. So very impressive, he did it very well.”