PHILIPPE Clement has addressed suggestions that a snobbery about Scottish football has prevented Jack Butland from forcing his way back into the England set-up and insisted the Rangers goalkeeper can still be involved at Euro 2024.
The nine times-capped 31-year-old has performed superbly for the Ibrox club at home and abroad during the 2023/24 campaign and had been widely expected to be recalled by his national team manager Gareth Southgate last month.
However, Southgate named Jordan Pickford of Everton, Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal and Sam Johnstone of Crystal Palace in his 23 man squad for the international friendlies against Belgium and Brazil.
Butland was even ignored when Johnstone suffered an elbow injury in training - James Trafford of Burnley was drafted in from the England Under-21 side to replace his countryman.
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Ramsdale and Johnstone have not been regular starters for their Premier League clubs this term and their selection ahead of the Rangers man has led to claims that only players who ply their trade down south or abroad will be considered.
Clement - who won 38 caps for Belgium during his playing days and who attended both France ’98, where he played in two games, and Euro 2000 – is unsure why his keeper has been overlooked.
He has urged the summer signing to maintain his focus in the remaining game of the season and stressed to him that anything is still possible in the months ahead.
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“It’s not finished yet of course,” said Clement. “It goes on until the day that the selection is made, so there are chances.
“But Jack is not performing to get to the Euros. Jack is performing for the club and to win things here. Then the other things can come.
“Right now, he’s just focused on his training every day to work well and to be decisive for the team, to be there and to be ready. He’s only focused on that.”
Asked if he thought that playing his club football in Scotland had counted against Butland, he said: “I don’t know what the people who make the selections think. I don’t know what the reasons are for yes or no.
“From the beginning, I will never go into that discussion because I don’t like when people do it to me. They don’t know all the facts about why I’m making decisions. I tell my players a lot, but I cannot tell them everything.
“It’s down to the choice of a manager and he will be looked at depending on the decisions he makes.”
Butland produced a good display in the second leg of the Europa League last 16 double header against Benfica at Ibrox last month just hours after he discovered that he had been overlooked by England.
Clement has no concerns about the former Birmingham City, Stoke City and Crystal Palace keeper, who last played for his country in 2018, allowing his head to go down because of his omission from his national squad.
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“I haven’t seen one per cent of a difference,” he said. “Nothing. Zero. Like he showed in the game against Benfica, there’s no difference with Jack.
“That says a lot about his character. He’s realistic that the only thing you can do as a player is to perform well. Then choices are made by other people.
“It’s the same for all the players here because a lot of guys are performing well here - but they’re not all playing or in the selection.
“That’s the life of a football player but the only thing you can do is show your best. Jack is into that, he knows that, he has experience.”
Clement added: “I spoke with him of course because I want to know, to see and to feel how my players are.
"It was a possibility that there was something in his head before the Benfica game. But it was totally not the case, from the first second as you all saw.”
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