Jordan Pickford has confirmed England are preparing for the possibility of facing penalties in Russia, even practising the nerve-jangling walk from the halfway line that has been the undoing of many players. The squad are alive to the possibility of a shootout in the knockout stages which has ended in heartbreak, almost without exception, at recent major tournaments. Gareth Southgate will always be haunted by his penalty miss against Germany that led to England’s elimination in the Euro 96 semi-finals.

But Pickford, one of three goalkeepers in the squad, said they have been rehearsing. “We’ve been doing the walk from the halfway line,” he said. “We’re not looking too far ahead but behind the scenes we’re doing a lot of work to be prepared for how we’d want to go about it.

“It’s pot luck sometimes. Sometimes you’ve just got to pick a side [to dive to], wait and attack that side. If you get there you get there and if you don’t, get the next one. It’s like a lottery. If you save a couple you can be a hero but there’s no pressure on you.”

Raheem Sterling defends gun tattoo against media criticism Read more

Despite Pickford’s belief that there is an element of good fortune involved in winning shootouts, Southgate is using the training camp at St George’s Park to address penalties. The manager is keen to emphasise it does not mean England have become complacent about progressing from a group containing Panama, Tunisia and Belgium. But the 47-year-old knows England have one of the worst shootout records in international football.

They have lost six of seven competitive tournament shootouts beginning with Peter Shilton’s failure to get close to any of West Germany’s four efforts at Italia 90. Of the 36 penalties faced by five England goalkeepers at major tournaments, only David Seaman and Paul Robinson have saved one, with an additional four misses.

Pickford was only 10 when England lost a shootout against Portugal at Euro 2004. David James did not get close to saving any of Portugal’s seven attempts, with the home side’s goalkeeper Ricardo stopping Darius Vassell’s effort before scoring a penalty himself to send the hosts through.

Pickford is also open to the idea of taking a penalty if the situation arises. “If I need to step up, I’ll take one,” the 24-year-old said. “I’ve got no issue with that. I’ve never taken one in a shootout but I’m always practising in training.

“I remember the Under-17s World Cup, I was down as third to take one. But the manager, John Peacock, changed it so I dropped to seventh and the lad who took the third penalty smashed it over the bar.”

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

He has already experienced winning under Southgate, triumphing with the under-21s in the Toulon Tournament during 2016. The Everton goalkeeper is in a battle with Jack Butland and Nick Pope to be first choice after Southgate overlooked Joe Hart, despite him playing in nine of the 10 qualifying matches.

The trio have only nine caps between them but Pickford insisted he is not concerned by the scale of the challenge or the uncertainty about who will be chosen. “Look at our experience in the Premier League,” he said. “I have played 38 games this season and numerous matches in cups and the Europa League. That is where you get your experience from. That’s why I have been to six or seven loan clubs from when I was 17 onwards, to become the best keeper I can.”

Pickford has escaped the level of scrutiny his team-mate Raheem Sterling has been subjected to for his recent tattoo but the goalkeeper’s left arm is covered in artwork. He has “mam” and “dad” encased in love hearts surrounded by sketches of compasses and butterflies.

His dad, a builder, used to drive him to training sessions as a child. In the back seat he would eat chicken and pasta, from a plastic container, prepared by his mum but during his time at Sunderland Pickford was publicly warned by David Moyes about his refuelling habits. In 2016 Moyes predicted Pickford would eventually be England’s No 1 but said he must sort out his eating habits, a criticism that still rankles.

“He never said it to me, he just said it to the papers. It would have been nice if he’d come and said it to me,” Pickford said. “Sometimes off the field you learn the most, becoming a better person, and nutritionally, I’ve worked a lot on it. I’m flying and feel much lighter and [am] getting across the goal even quicker.

“I think it was just portion sizes. I wasn’t going to McDonald’s every week but a nice pizza after three points isn’t a bad way to have it. We’d be having more than a pizza if we win the World Cup.”