Gareth Southgate might’ve been in the crowd to assess Jack Butland in Rangers’ recent Old Firm draw with Celtic.
But the Rangers goalkeeper is none the wiser about his status in the England reckoning with the Three Lions manager yet to say a word.
Jack Butland is in the midst of resurrecting his career following a move to Ibrox Stadium with the presence of Gareth Southgate at the very least an indicator of the goalie’s progress.
But as Jack Butland vies for an England recall ahead of Euro 2024 – with injuries in the goalkeeping department boosting his chances – the Rangers star is fully focused on the task at hand at Ibrox.
Jack Butland claims no Gareth Southgate contact
In an impressive pre-match press conference, Jack Butland cooly and authoritatively shot down the suggestion that Rangers’ title tilt is over.
The Ibrox side have won only one game in four in the Scottish Premiership, with the historic 3-2 defeat to Ross County still fresh in the memory.
With Dundee on the horizon, Jack Butland has been rallying the troops, but the Rangers goalkeeper still had enough time to field questions on Gareth Southgate.
Explaining that he would be “delighted” to make the England squad for Euro 2024 in Germany, the 31-year-old is clear that will depend on how the next few weeks go with Rangers.
“No I haven’t spoken to him, no,” said Jack Butland. “Of course (I am still holding out hope of a Euro 2024 call-up).
“But as I’ve said all along, that comes with performances for Rangers. The fact that he came up to watch is fantastic.
“It’s important for me and any other English player that it’s a window, there’s an opening, that there’s that potential there.
“So all I can do from here on out is focus on my performances which is all that matters to me at the minute is what we do here and what we do with this club.
“If (an England call comes) then I’ll be delighted.”
Rangers goalkeeper urges team to get basics right
Whilst the conversation around Jack Butland, Gareth Southgate, and the England squad rages on, you’ll be forgiven for thinking the recent situation at Rangers isn’t helping the goalkeeper’s cause.
Rangers have regressed from the competitive side who hauled themselves back into Scottish Premiership contention and the club’s title tilt hangs by a thread.
Conceding three goals in front of Mr Southgate at Ibrox, Butland was helpless as another three found the back of the net in Dingwall.
Asked about the defence’s recent downturn, the Rangers goalkeeper believes it’s a failure at the basic level through the team.
“I think the Old Firm game last weekend you see the freak goals that sort of happened,” said Butland.
“Things like that happen when you get the business end of the season at times. It would be easy to think things have changed.
“Ultimately you’re playing against the other top side in the league last weekend, the performance we’ve spoke about wasn’t acceptable on the weekend.
“It was basics really that have cost us those moment and things like that. It’s not again something that we’re concerned about.
“It’s something that we’ve looked at, we’ve gone over, reminded ourselves of waht we’ve prided ourselves on and what has got us into this position that we are now.
“And that’s been hard work on and off the ball, it’s been pressing, it’s been working together as a unit which has got us to where we are.
“So there’s no sort of doubt that we can recreate that and it’s important that we do that tomorrow.”
Jack Butland is one of the frontrunners for Rangers’ Player of the Year, making 50 appearances for the club, conceding 43 goals and keeping 23 clean sheets.
