Jordan Pickford has come in for some criticism recently with questions from some corners asking if he should be the number one goalkeeper for Everton and England.
The Blues shot-stopper kept nine clean sheets in the Premier League last term, five less than in the previous season but was a World Cup hero in a penalty shootout with Colombia the year before.
Pickford was named in the 24-man Three Lions squad set to face Iceland and Denmark in next month's Nations League ties.
Also in the squad are Burnley's Nick Pope and Manchester United's Dean Henderson.
But one Premier League rival has hit out at the stick aimed at the Everton man, saying he is without a doubt England's number one with errors needlessly magnified since his World Cup heroics.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Crystal Palace's Andros Townsend explained how he thought Pickford has been the target of unfair criticism and should retain his place between the sticks for his national and domestic sides.
He said: "In this country, we build up players to knock them down. Pickford obviously had the World Cup 2018, where he was at the top and then every single mistake after that, I feel has been magnified.
"He's maybe had unfair scrutiny, unfair criticism because of mistakes which all goalkeepers have but because he's England's number one it gets magnified. The same way Joe Hart was when was was England's number one.
"For me Jordan Pickford still will be and should still be England's number one. Myself when [I] make a mistake, I've got 10 players behind [me] to get [me] out of it but the goalkeeper, you make a mistake and it's 1-0 and unfortunately on the back pages."
England manager Gareth Southgate also responded to the recent criticism when explaining his squad choices for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. He said: “I think we have three decent goalkeepers.
"I think they are the best three in the country at the moment.
“In every position on the field we've got to have that competition. It’s ten months since we played. There have been fluctuations in form during that time.
“I've also got to bear in mind that Jordan has had excellent performances for us with England, has never let us down in terms of his performances for us.
“It is fair to say he has had a challenging period with his club but all the goalkeepers on the list have had goals that they would have hoped to have done better with.
“We’re looking forward to getting back and working with them and it is for them to go and claim the shirt.”
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