VIDEO: 'We've defended as a team'
by Jamie Bradbury in Drammen
Monday, 10 October, 2011
Jack Butland is looking for another clean sheet for the young Lions.
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Jack Butland is looking for his third clean sheet for the Under-21s when the Three Lions meet Norway in Drammen on Monday night.
The Cheltenham Town keeper, who is currently on loan from Birmingham City, has started both Euro 2013 qualifiers so far this campaign as England have scored nine goals without conceding.
Next up is a difficult game against Norway, who have also picked up two wins from two games, and the match is the Under-21s first ever on a 4G artificial pitch.
“It brings back old memories, to be fair, training with young teams back at Birmingham sometimes we trained on the indoor pitch," he told FATV. "I haven't done it for a while but it's a good quality pitch and I don't think I'll be any problems with it.
“The ball obviously bounces differently and it's a lot more unpredictable because the rubber crumb that is in it is displaced and it's not even throughout, so sometimes you get a different bounce. But that is what training is for."
And while the 18-year-old is yet to be beaten, he’s happy to share the plaudits with the rest of the team. England currently sit at the top of Group 8 and, having won the Euro Championship at U17 level and represented his country at the U20s World Cup this summer, Butland is keen to help his team take an early hold on qualifying for the Finals in Israel in two years’ time.
Norway only trail by goal difference, so will provide a stern test and themselves will be looking to claim the only guaranteed spot on the play-offs as group winners.
“It's just the same as every other game we've got to keep on improving and the minimum we will be expected to come out with is three points. That's what will aiming for and will treat it like any other game," continued Butland.
“Every game we go out to win, we've achieved that so far and are looking to continue that out here,”
He added: “Keeping clean sheets is the main thing for a keeper, but if you are fortunate like me, I have had a lot of support from the defenders and the whole team has defended very well. They’ve limited what I've had to do.
“As a keeper, you want to show the team what you are about. But the best teams to get to tournaments are because of the way they defend. We've defended very well as a team and scored a lot of goals.”
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