Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope is set to give England manager Gareth Southgate a boost by playing his first Premier League match for 15 months on Saturday.
Pope, 27, is due to face Southampton at Turf Moor for his first league game since being selected in Southgate's squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Soon after that, he suffered a bad shoulder injury which kept him out for almost six months. And with Tom Heaton and Joe Hart at the club, his only three appearances for the first team last season came in cup competitions.
This campaign promises to be different however. Heaton has been sold to Aston Villa and with Pope having signed a new long-term contract over the summer, he is set to get the nod from Sean Dyche to start the Premier League campaign ahead of Hart and new signing, Northern Ireland international Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Southgate will be interested in how Pope fares. England's next fixture is against Bulgaria in September and there is strong competition behind Everton No.1 Jordan Pickford.
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