‘These things happen’ - Ex-Arsenal man delivers Nick Pope verdict but backs Newcastle United man for World Cup selection

A late mistake from the Newcastle United stopper allowed Kai Havertz to snatch an equaliser as England and Germany shared six goals in their final UEFA Nations League outing.

It was a hugely disappointing moment for Pope who has been in incredible form for the Magpies this campaign and was selected by Gareth Southgate as the understudy to the injured Jordan Pickford.

Whilst former England and Arsenal keeper David Seaman believes that Pope will be ‘disappointed’ with the third goal, he backs him to come back stronger as a result.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Seaman said: “He will be disappointed with the Germany third goal, there’s no doubt.

“I don’t know whether he got caught in two minds about whether to go horizontal or stay vertical and use a scoop technique, but it was a hard ball to deal with.

“As a goalkeeper you have to hold your hands up when it’s one that you’ve fumbled. Sometimes you get away with them, sometimes you don’t.

“He’ll be disappointed. He’ll also be a little disappointed with his distribution, it’s something that other teams are looking at now and they’re charging him down [in possession].

“These things happen and I’m sure he’s working really hard on it but it was a chance for Nick and sadly he makes a mistake which costs England a win.”

Despite the mistake last night, Seaman does still believe that Pope should be on the plane to Qatar and that it could be a former Newcastle United target that is omitted from Gareth Southgate’s squad:

“It’s a tough one but looking at it and the experience everyone has got, I think unfortunately Dean Henderson might miss out.

“He’s not made a lot of appearances for England, it’s his first season with Nottingham Forest so I imagine he would be the one that misses out.

“Fingers crossed no one gets injured because you never know as there’s still a few months to go before the World Cup, that might happen.

“But in Aaron [Ramsdale] and Nick, you have two guys there that are really, really close in being number two.”

Newcastle United and Pope face Fulham on Saturday, hoping to keep former Magpies striker Aleksandar Mitrovic off the score sheet.